Greater Western Sydney will climb the AFL ladder quicker than fellow newbies Gold Coast, according to Bulldogs veteran Daniel Giansiracusa.
The Giants came within a whisker of drawing the first match of their inaugural season before going down by just five points to a scratchy Western Bulldogs in the NAB Cup at Blacktown on Saturday night.
"Comparing them to Gold Coast at the same time (last year) I thought they were further front in terms of the defensive aspects of the game," Giansiracusa said after the Dogs' training session on Wednesday.
The Suns won just three matches last year but Giansiracusa thinks the Giants are better prepared for their debut season than Gold Coast were.
"They flooded back really well to help out their defence and there was a counterattack there from them as well," he said of Saturday's clash.
"Whether they can sustain that throughout the year because of how long the season goes time will tell but they have a lot of good players."
"Once they get going they are going to be good for a long time," he said.
The Bulldogs, with a near full-strength team, lost their second match to an inexperienced Collingwood side by seven points.
"I'd hope we weren't playing at our best in the first round of a NAB Cup." Giansiracusa said.
"In terms of the result we didn't really take much notice of the scoreboard. We were quite happy with a scrap to be honest."
The Dogs, under new coach Brendan McCartney, have this weekend off before meeting Carlton at Etihad Stadium on March 4.
They are still alive in the NAB Cup but Giansiracusa said a repeat of their 2010 pre-season premiership wasn't an aim.
"We have probably learned at this club from our premiership in the NAB Cup a couple of years ago. We were cooked by about Round 18," he said.
"At the time we felt really good about ourselves and started the year quiet well but I know I'd prefer to be going well at the business end of the season."
"It's a timing thing and we are building towards Round 1 against West Coast."
"We have a new coach and a new game plan and we are trying to put a few things in place that we have worked on for the last five months out on the track," the 29-year-old added.
Giansiracusa said the Bulldogs had escaped injury-free from Saturday night and star trio Brian Lake, Adam Cooney and Shaun Higgins were all on track to run out against the Blues.