When the Giants were sweltering away in 44-degree heat during their first-ever pre-season, two rules were instituted to help build a culture that has the club just 60 minutes away from the inaugural Super Netball title.
They're rules that remain unbroken, on and off the court, and that shall again be on display against Sunshine Coast Lightning in Brisbane on Saturday night.
More Sports HQ Videos
Plays of the Week
A goal feast in the World Cup qualifiers, crazy comebacks and chaos between the wickets, these are the Plays of the Week.
No one is allowed to bend over, and no one is permitted to rest their hands on their hips. Both gestures indicate a sign of weakness, and were stamped out by coach Julie Fitzgerald and captain Kim Green at the team's first full training session during Sydney's summer heatwave.
For English imports Jo Harten and Serena Guthrie, both lining up for their maiden grand final appearance in this hemisphere, it reinforced not only the challenge of playing professional sport in Australia, but also that they'd joined a club building towards instant success.
"I could barely train without wanting to pass out, I think we trained at 44 degrees one day and we had a saying, 'Strong heart', you can't bend over," Harten said.
"My first session I heard the words stand tall, and it was about adopting and embracing the Giants' [AFL] boys methods.
"That was really good for us because at the time we wanted to bend over, be sick, whatever, but it was about standing tall, embracing the challenge, embracing the environment and doing it for each other. You're not in this alone, there's 10 other people beside you and you can all pull through together.
"We were talking about that then, if you want to make the final you're going to stand up tall now, you're going to suck the air in, you're going to keep going.
![On target: Giants shooter Jo Harten survived and thrived on the club's gruelling pre-season training.](http://web.archive.org./web/20170621105853im_/https://www.fairfaxstatic.com.au/content/dam/images/g/v/k/f/c/u/image.related.articleLeadwide.620x349.gws9m8.png/1497612850260.jpg)
"That's the kind of resilience we've been practicing all year and I think that came from Kim Green and her leadership. It set what our tone was going to be throughout the whole year and that's really stuck through us up until now."
It explains how the Giants ran over the top of the Magpies in a thrilling elimination final two weeks ago, and how they still seem to be improving each week as displayed in last Saturday's preliminary final demolition over the minor premier Melbourne Vixens.
Both English imports had been plying their trade in New Zealand before the Giants were formed, and neither were able to resist the opportunity to play for Sydney's second team under Fitzgerald's iconic coaching.
But second thoughts began to surface once the brutality of pre-season training set in.
"I'm not sure we ever did get over it to be honest with you, you just bring some extra towels and try and survive," Guthrie said.
"There's a lot to be said about body language and how you perceive a team in terms of what they're doing off the ball.
"Kim was a big driver in that and not having hands on hips. I like to put my hands on my hips anyway so I know longer do that in general life because of that.
"It's easy not to buy into the little things but I think for us it's the little things that have actually brought us together and being able to perform. The performance we put in last week against the Vixens all stems from those little things."
Similar values are observed by the GWS Giants across the road in their quest for a maiden AFL premiership, and the link between football and netball has been close all season.
Netball NSW owns the Giants' licence, but the GWS football department works closely with the netballers, offering their gym and rehabilitation facilities.
The GWS executive staff are flying to Brisbane this weekend to support the netballers, as is deputy chairman Joseph Carrozzi and members of the Giants' football cheer squad who will be tasked with combating the vociferous Queensland crowd.
Both Harten and Guthrie have a fair idea of what to expect from fans north of the Tweed after embracing State Of Origin since moving over to this side of the world. They were inspired by the sport after witnessing an original GWS Giant in full flight before he made the first of his code switches.
"Me and Jo we watched our first game of State of O together in about 2010 and we saw Izzy Folau jump over a man and we were like 'Whoa who's this guy?' – we were absolutely hooked from that moment on," Guthrie said.
"They [Queenslanders] are a special bunch of fans."
Harten was also bracing for an onslaught from the crowd.
"I've been with Jules for three years and one of the best things she ever taught me was when a crowd is reacting so vocally and so ferociously, it's actually to embrace that, adopt it as your own and just embrace the environment you're in," Harten said.
"Anyone in the world would love to hear 10,000 people chanting, it doesn't matter if it's for them or not but you can get down hearted if they're not for you.
"It's about embracing the opportunity, you're in a great game of netball, you're in this rivalry whether you like it or not and it's about doing the best you can, and just making them all pretend to cheer for you."
It's all part of the Giants' way.
0 comments
New User? Sign up