3 minute read

GWS youngster Sam Taylor admits accepting his 30th AFL match will be a grand final is something he's struggling to get his head around.

It's not pretty but GWS youngster Sam Taylor's swollen upper lip is his purple badge of honour during AFL grand-final week.

Taylor received three stitches to a cut that occurred in a forgotten collision at some point in the second quarter of last weekend's nail-biting AFL preliminary final win over Collingwood.

Any pain from that wound in what was just Taylor's 29th AFL match was quickly forgotten, however, in the euphoria of helping the Giants to their first grand-final berth.

"I've been telling everyone it's definitely worth it," Taylor told AAP.

"If getting three stitches in the lips is the price I have to pay for playing in a grand final, it's 100 per cent worth it."

The biggest issue Taylor is facing this week is coming to terms with the fact he'll be lining up again at the MCG this Saturday against Richmond in a premiership decider.

With a mere two seasons of senior football under his belt, the boy from a farm near Bullsbrook in Western Australia admits he's still getting used to life under the spotlight.

"Honestly I still feel like a normal guy just playing my footy," Taylor said.

"It sort of hasn't really hit me that I'm an AFL player but playing in this grand final and everything that's going on, it's getting to that point where I'm like 'Jesus, this is really serious'.

"Anything could happen from here, it's only the start."

Taylor was at the heart of the Giants' rearguard in the final quarter of the dramatic four-point win over the Magpies.

With seconds left on the clock Taylor punched, rather than marked, the ball metres from the goal square despite being unmarked.

Fortunately, the clearance went straight to teammate Daniel Lloyd and not a Magpie as the siren sounded.

The frantic finish was among the most intense Taylor has yet to experience in his fledgling career.

"They had the momentum and the last two minutes, I wouldn't say it was panic stations, but we just held out and held out," Taylor said.

"The pressure was on. But we have a really well experienced backline which gave me a lot of confidence to stick it out."