Instead, the Hawks will be focused on their own game and playing the Hawthorn brand of football.
“You’ve got to approach it like you would any other game, whether they’re at the bottom end of the ladder or at the top end of the ladder,” Whitecross said.
“Especially with the competition this year, if you don’t bring your best game to the table every week, you’re a chance of losing.”
For the Hawks, that approach is to bring the same intent and desire to win the football that has been a feature of the Hawthorn game style over the past month.
Since the Round 9 loss to Richmond, the Hawks have won four consecutive matches, with last Friday’s win over Carlton arguably the most impressive.
Whitecross says the most pleasing aspect of the Hawks last four weeks has been the ability to carry that intent over the course of the match.
“The thing that came out of the game for us on the weekend was our intent, it has been the way we’ve played our footy the last three or four weeks” he said.
“It’s just the genuine intent that the boys have come to the game with, we’ve played the start of the game with that but also have been able to carry it for four quarters.
“There’s still periods in the game where we’re not going to be able to play the perfect game but we want to be able to play as close to that as we can.”
While the Giants possess a number of experienced players in their line-up, facing the Greater Western Sydney young guns for the first time is a challenge.
Whitecross says his teammates are aware of the Giants’ ability to compete against more seasoned sides, most recently against the Tigers in Round 12.
“Some of the games they’ve played this year that I’ve seen, they’ve pushed a lot of the top sides,” he said.
“We know that we’ve got a big challenge this week because in a sense, they know that they’ve got nothing to lose and if we don’t bring our best game, then we’re a chance of losing.”
The Hawks won’t focus exclusively on experienced players like Callan Ward and Tom Scully, however, with the Hawks forward conscious of the role confidence plays for a young team.
“These younger players can get a lot of confidence throughout the game and build on it,” Whitecross said.
“Confidence is a great thing and you can do anything when you’ve got that behind you.
“The younger players are going to be the ones to look out for.”
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