JONATHON Patton hopes Greater Western Sydney is learning what it takes to run out games, and that will lead to more wins before its third season draws to a close.
Heading into 2014, the Giants targeted 4-6 wins as a pass mark.
Victories in two of their first three games – against the Sydney Swans and Melbourne – was an ideal start, while they have also knocked off the Brisbane Lions and Carlton.
Yet there were a number of other games GWS could have won, notably against St Kilda, Hawthorn and Essendon.
The third-year side held the lead in the fourth quarter against the Saints, and was within three and one points in the final term of the Hawks and Bombers respectively, before falling just short in all three.
The Giants face Geelong at Spotless Stadium on Saturday night and then Richmond, North Melbourne, the Demons, Collingwood and the Western Bulldogs to round out the year.
Key forward Patton is optimistic some of those fixtures will result in wins to cap a solid year of development for the young club.
"If we can get another couple, whatever happens, happens, but we're all very confident we can win some more games," Patton told AFL.com.au.
"There's been a lot of games we could've won, but little things cost us.
"We did that two weeks in a row against Essendon and Hawthorn, where we were almost there and probably should've won, and lost them both.
"It's stuff that you learn from and I think we're better for it.
"Hopefully with the games coming up, we can really finish off well and get a few wins."
Patton himself has made a significant leap this season following two injury-plagued years as a Giant.
Featuring in a total of 10 matches in his first two years, the No.1 pick in the 2011 NAB AFL Draft played 15 consecutive games this season until taking a well-earned rest for last week's away clash with Fremantle.
Coming off a knee reconstruction, Patton had virtually no pre-season heading into this year, making his number of appearances all the more impressive.
He turned 21 in May and knows he has some way to go before his 198cm, 103kg frame is at its peak.
But, having kicked 19 goals and averaged 12 possessions and five marks per game, he is content with what he has achieved so far in 2014.
"Going into this year I didn't really have any expectations or goals, so to get through 15 games in a row is something I'm proud of," he said.
"Hopefully I can play every game the rest of the year,fingers crossed.
"Being on the sidelines, you can take for granted how hard it is to back up each week.
"Especially coming off a knee reconstruction, playing 15 games in a row has been really good.
"Going into each game, I feel really confident."
Patton and fellow GWS key forwards Jeremy Cameron and Tom Boyd have worked closely this year with former Hawthorn great Dermott Brereton.
During his rest last week, Patton watched fellow No.1 pick Boyd play in the reserves and was impressed with his improvement, while he feels his partnership with Cameron builds every time they take the field together.
All three will face the Cats at Spotless Stadium, just the third time they have all been in the same senior side, and Patton says Brereton has helped their development.
"Dermie's been coming up a fair bit the last few months and he's been awesome," Patton said.
"He's got so much knowledge of the game and really communicates well to young guys.
"He pulls on the boots and gets a bit of a rub down from the physios and runs around out there.
"He actually looks pretty good for an old fella."
