HE'S booted nine goals in two weeks, but Sam Sloan knows he will likely need another bag for the Bathurst Giants this Saturday if they are to pull off an historic first.
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Since joining the ranks of the AFL Central West's senior men's competition in 2016, the Giants have never won against the Dubbo Demons at South Dubbo Oval.
They have come close - last year the Giants went down 11-9-75 to 9-12-66, while the first meeting of 2018 was another nail-biter as the Demons held on for a 6-7-43 to 5-3-33 win.
Suffering a sixth consecutive loss at South Dubbo Oval is something Sloan is eager to avoid and this Saturday he and his Giants have extra motivation to snap the Demons' streak.
If the Giants win they will host the preliminary final, if they lose it means travelling to Dubbo for the grand final qualifier.
"The home ground advantage for the prelim would definitely help, so we'll be throwing everything we can at them this week and hopefully get the win. But we know Dubbo are a really good side, so we'll have to throw our best at them," Sloan said.
"We've never beaten them up there, so it's a really good opportunity to try and do that."
Sloan has been with the Giants since under 14s and was given his first taste of senior football in the latter stages of the 2016 season.
He has since gone on to become a regular for the Giants and over the past fortnight his efforts inside 50 have played a crucial role in his side securing a spot in the three-team finals series.
Sloan kicked four goals when the Giants beat Dubbo in Bathurst a fortnight ago and added another five majors to his season tally last Saturday with a strong performance against Orange. However, the 20-year-old credits his team-mates for his success.
"It's been pretty good, I've had some pretty exceptional delivery from the midfield over the last couple of weeks so that's helped a lot," he said.
"They've been putting the ball in a good spot which makes it a lot easier to jump at the footy, they've been putting it where I like it."
Last Saturday the combination of Sloan and the returning Jordan Longmore - a member of the Giants' inaugural men's side - worked well.
Sloan enjoys having the experienced footballer alongside him inside 50.
"His voice down there is really important I think. He's directing traffic around and he just brings a presence," he said.
"His experience is very valuable in the forward line and I've learned a lot from him."
Learning is something the Giants squad as a whole has done across the course of the season. The departure of a host of experienced players at the start of 2020 meant there was rebuilding that needed to be done.
But now the Giants are assured of a spot in the top three and Sloan hopes they can build further on that, starting by beating Dubbo this Saturday.
"I think we've been pretty competitive all year, there's a really good vibe around the club and I think we've just gelled together really well this year. I think that could be a bit of a key to success," he said.
"It will be a really hard challenge to beat Dubbo, we know Dubbo are a really hard side so we'll have to try and throw everything we've got at them.
"They are always really good at home, so we'll have to have our best side to try and beat them up there.
"They've got a couple of really big blokes that they can swing around, we just have to be prepared for whatever they throw at us. They've got a few blokes who can play up forward and also down in the back line, so it's just a matter of playing the best footy we possibly can."
First bounce is at 2.30pm.
