Greater Western Sydney have spent their entire existence looking at tomorrow but they say their time is now.
The AFL's youngest club will start warm favourite against the competition's Cinderella story, the Western Bulldogs, as they aim to book a historic grand final berth in just their fifth season. The Bulldogs have not made the decider since 1961.
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AFL plays of the finals: week two
Bontempelli, Stringer and Co run all over the reigning premiers as Hawthorn go out in straight sets while the Swans avoid that fate as they muscle past Adelaide at the SCG.
There is an adage that you have to lose one one before you can win one but the Giants are having none of that.
While they have been built for long-term success, they will not get many better opportunities to go all the way. They head into the penultimate week of the season refreshed after a week off, are playing in their own back yard and have their best team available, with the exception of the suspended Steve Johnson.
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"Whether you have a full book or not, they're [preliminary finals] hard to get to and harder to win," the Giants' director of coaching and first employee Alan McConnell said.
"If you're presented with an opportunity, you take it. I've been chasing this silverware for a long time."
Despite their raft of draft concessions and salary cap advantage, the Giants arrived on the big stage earlier than expected – surprising even themselves.
"There was a time early in our career, you'd have one eye on today and one eye on tomorrow: there was a bigger eye on tomorrow five years ago than today," McConnell said.
"When you're looking at the dynamics of your group and your footy department you need to be able to understand where you're at and the implications of the decisions you make on the nature of the group.
"When you get to a preliminary final you're not thinking about that but what's in front of your nose."
Unlike the first week of finals when they were underdogs with a second chance, this time they are expected to win and there will be no tomorrow for the loser.
McConnell, along with the Giants' coaching staff, watched first-hand the Dogs end Hawthorn's bid for a fourth consecutive flag and was impressed by what he saw.
While the Giants could have exposed the Hawks for speed, the Dogs are strong both at the contest and once the ball is in the open.
They beat them earlier this season by 25 points, though both sides had the same number of scoring shots and the Dogs had a crowded casualty ward. They are in better shape now and, McConnell said, will be a "formidable opponent".