Stefan Giro couldn’t be accused of not putting the effort in on debut, out-running every other player on the ground during Fremantle’s 61-point loss to Collingwood at the MCG on Sunday.
The 19-year-old covered the most ground on the day with his 16.7kms at least 700m more than the next player – Jack Crisp of Collingwood.
Giro also covered the most ground at top speed with 3.6km of sprinting.
The Norwood product collected 10 disposals, laid four tackles and kicked a goal in what was a promising introduction to AFL football.
“It was tough that’s for sure. I’ve just got to keep probing and keep my work-rate up and, hopefully, I’ll have another crack next week,” Giro said.
“I tried my hardest. I like to use my tank and I tried to use my speed to my advantage. I want to play a pressure role and keep chasing.
“It’s something I’ve worked on for a long time so it’s good to see it stand up at the top level.”
Giro was one of 13 Freo players with 50 games or less experience and he feels the team can only get better from the day.
“There’s a lot to take out of it and there’s a lot of improvement in us I think,” Giro said.
“We’ll grow from it, work on the track and we’ll get better I’m sure.
“We’ve just got to make sure at training we’re training at 100 per cent because that’s what the great players do so if we train our hardest we’ll be a great team.
“Ross said he was happy with our final term but obviously, we didn’t win so at the same time he was a bit disappointed so there’s a lot to work with.”
Giro’s parents made the trip to the MCG from South Australia and were caught with tears in their eyes on the broadcast with word getting back to their son in the changerooms post-game.
“Yeah I’ve heard about that,” Giro said.
“Apparently they were the most nervous people in Australia so it’s funny to see.”
Both of Freo’s debutants hit the scoreboard on the day, with Giro and Scott Jones kicking majors in the final term.
“Obviously, we were down by a lot so it wasn’t as special as it could have been but it’s still good to get my first goal on the board,” Giro said.
“It was also good to get around Jones, all the boys got around us both.”
Giro's plans for the week are to keep working on the track with the hope of retaining his spot to face Adelaide at Optus Stadium on Sunday.
“I guess now, I know the speed of AFL,” Giro said.
“I’ve never played an AFL game this was my first one.
“I’ll take the speed out of it, understand my role a bit better and work on it at training and go through the tape and see how I went.
