LACHIE Whitfield has shown no early signs of the "second-year blues" with a commanding NAB Challenge performance after what Greater Western Sydney coach Leon Cameron described as a "really, really good pre-season".
The No.1 draft selection from 2012, who doesn't get spoken about as much as the Giants' other top draftees – hulking forwards Jonathon Patton and Tom Boyd – has put himself in a good position ahead of the home and away season.
Playing on the wing and half-forward flank, Whitfield had 25 disposals in the Giants' 40-point loss to the Sydney Swans in Canberra on Thursday night.
He also kicked three goals, had three scoring assists and took the ball inside 50 seven times.
Cameron said afterwards the 19-year-old had kept up his work-rate over the summer and had started to shine since the group returned post-Christmas.
"He's had a really, really good pre-season, especially his last six weeks," Cameron said at StarTrack Oval.
"The second year is always tough because you burst onto the scene in your first year but the second year is tough because oppositions start knowing who you are.
"But we were rapt with Lachie's performance tonight along with some of our other players.
"He's a good kid and he's working hard to become that player we expect him to be."
Patton's first game back from a knee reconstruction started in the third quarter and he managed three touches in a low-key return.
Cameron said the Giants were just pleased to get his first game out of the way and see him on the field again after nearly 12 months out.
"It's just great that Jon Patton is playing again. Nervous times when he came on after half-time but he had a hand in a couple of goals, a couple of deft touches, a couple of handballs," he said.
"He'll be better for the run and we look forward to him playing next week."
Cameron kept his players behind closed doors for a period after the game, which he said was usual practice for immediate post-match dissection.
He said the group was showing increased awareness about where they went wrong in games and what they did well.
"I just asked them before I showed them the statistics, how do you think we went, to see if they could actually analyse the game and the 120 minutes they played," he said.
"They were pretty spot on.
"They said they thought they hung in there at times, they competed really well at times, the synergy centre forward wasn't great at times, we thought there were great positives in terms of our tackle rate.
"Our loose ball gets have been a big thing we've been concentrating on, and they were dead right."
The Giants also had the ball more with 401 disposals to 369 and had six more inside 50s.
They lost out at the stoppages, which is something Cameron said would improve as new ruckman Shane Mumford created "synergy" with his onballers.
Cameron also said the role of Dylan Addison in the forward line was important, with the former Western Bulldog creating spark in attack and kicking two goals.
"When he arrived at the Dogs, he started as a half-back flanker but I think the last year or two at the Dogs he was more a forward line player," he said.
"I think it's very important for us to have experienced players on every line.
"We've got a couple down back and Mumford and [Rhys] Palmer and [Callan] Ward in the middle, and we've got Addison in the forward line."
The Giants' second NAB Challenge match is in Wagga on March 1 against St Kilda, with Cameron forecasting a similar squad to Thursday night's.
