Danish star begins international scholarship stint with GWS Giants

Aksel’s Diary Day 1:

After serving with the Danish Army for 3 months and a long flight from Afghanistan to Denmark (home) I didn’t really want to spend the next 24 hours on a plane to Sydney. Then I started to think about why I was undertaking this journey: A 17 day international scholarship with the GSW Giants. All of a sudden the long flight didn’t bother me at all, and I was really excited to have a great experience and be a part of a real AFL club.

After a night in Sydney I got picked up by Ady one of the staff members of the club and he drove me out to one of the many Sydney suburbs where I was going to live during my stay. The house was owned by Adam Kennedy and Dylan Shine, and they had a spare room I was able to move into.

They are really great blokes and we had a relaxing Sunday on the couch with Fifa and Footy on the television.

The boys were a bit worn out after the match against the Gold Coast Suns which they unfortunately lost 104 – 148.

Especially Dylan who’s direct opponent was Gary Ablett.

Monday I had my first day down at the club and met a lot of people. I’m trying to remember everyone’s name and face but it’s pretty hard. My housemates did a really good job looking out for me and helping me during the whole day.

We started the day with a pool session and then we had a light weight session. All good fun! After lunch we had a review of the match against Gold Coast Suns where they pointed out what they had to keep doing as a team and what they had to improve. A lot of statistics and a lot different from what I’m used to with soccer. Every move on the footy field is noticed and analysed.

We then went for a 5 min drive to a field where we had a light session with handballs, kicks and a soccer match before we returned to the club for massages. A really great first day with the GWS Giants.