They've exceeded their own expectations this season, having won 10 games - almost double last year's haul of six - and are still an outside chance of making the eight and playing in their first finals campaign. McLachlan pointed to their improvement and felt it wouldn't be long before they were pushing for their first premiership. He said their first Manuka sellout - against Geelong four weeks ago - was an indication the Giants were starting to become the "pride of Canberra". "Canberra have their own team, the GWS Giants. They play a number of games down here, they sold out a game against Geelong the other day," McLachlan said. "This team is going to be a standout success and they are Canberra's team.



"If everyone's not on board now, they will be when this team's winning premierships in the next three to five years. They are going to be the pride of Canberra."

It's that predicted success that has McLachlan confident they will make head-roads in the battle of the football codes in the nation's capital. He admitted the AFL had dropped the ball in the ACT to allow what was previously a breeding ground for Australian football talent become a stronghold for the rugby codes. Alex Jesaulenko and James Hird were household names to come out of Canberra, but the birth of the Canberra Raiders in the NRL and Super Rugby club ACT Brumbies saw the AFL fall down the pecking order. But McLachlan was confident they could regain that ground on the back of GWS's climb up the AFL ladder. He said the AFL would schedule bigger games at Manuka as their profile grows.

The Giants have asked for more big-drawing, Victorian clubs like Geelong to play at Canberra next year and McLachlan said he'd give them that. "We will increasingly play big games up here the more success the Giants have. I'm as confident about the Giants' growth and success in Canberra as I am ... about our involvement in Adelaide Oval," he said. "Australian rules football has a rich history in Canberra. We have neglected it over the past periods of time, but as the Giants win more and more games, and you saw that this year, this town will rally behind them and they will be a huge success. "I don't think it will matter who they play against ... they're going to be a superstar team and I think success in Canberra is inevitable." Matthews didn't want to be drawn into McLachlan's talk of premierships, but he did say there was the potential for the Giants to play finals at Manuka.

But that would depend on Manuka's capacity getting increased as planned. "There would be no reason why [Manuka couldn't host finals] down the track if the stadium was developed according to the master plan," Matthews said. "I think that would be the key, where does that end up?" Chief Minister Andrew Barr said they were considering changing when Giants games were played. He said they were looking at playing two games late in the season, when the Brumbies' season was over and the Raiders were playing away.

"Great to get the indication of support for blockbuster matches coming to Canberra," Barr said. "We're looking increasingly at this later period, July-August, to avoid any direct clashes with the Brumbies and Raiders when there are a number of free weekends. "Noting of course we'll always have a game earlier in the year too, around the Easter period because of the unavailability of the Giants' Sydney home ground."