From Swan Hill via Geelong Grammar and the Bendigo Pioneers, the number 27 pick in the 2017 draft has spent a few afternoons playing in Ballarat over the years.

And it's that experience, particularly of the wind, that many of his teammates had for the first time at the weekend, when they fell one-point short of the Gold Coast Sun in their first ever hit-out at the venue.

The 22-year-old said he hoped that experience would hold his side in good stead in the crucial clash against the club's biggest rivals Sydney Swans on Saturday.

"The Gold Coast probably were the best team for the four quarters," he said. "It probably took us a half to get going.

"We blazed a few opportunities in the first quarter which probably came back to bite us.

"This week will be similar stuff, we're back in Ballarat and it's probably going to be a bit windy again, we'll know the conditions a little bit better and play better. The main thing is to bring our contest and our clearance work and hopefully we can hit the scoreboard when we need to."

Daniels said every time he'd personally played at the ground, conditions had generally been the same. "It's really windy, usually pretty cold, that makes things a bit tricky," he said.

Daniels has had an interrupted campaign this season, having missed a number of weeks with hamstring injuries.

He said he was slowly finding his best, comfortable with how he was progressing in the second half of the season.

"It's probably taken me a little bit to get going, but I feel like I'm building pretty well at the moment," he said.

"Obviously I'd love to improve, but at the moment, I'm just taking it week by week and not putting too much pressure on myself," he said.

"I know I'm good enough to play at the level, my performance on the weekend improved on the week before and I'm keen to just keep on improving from here. Hopefully this week, I can build again.

"Hamstrings are always in the back of your mind, but each week I'm building my confidence."

Daniels said the players were doing their best to take their current situation in their stride, but he admitted he felt for some of his older teammates who had been forced to leave family behind in Sydney.

"Everyone would love to be home in our beds and stuff like that, but I think everyone has handled it a bit better this year," he said.

"I know it's tough on a few players, but it's something we have to deal with. Hopefully over the next few weeks they are able to sort out a few things in order to get their families to come down with them.

"It's looking more and more likely we'll be here for the rest of the year, so hopefully they can work something out."

Earlier in the season, the Giants came from 15 points down at three-quarter-time to win by two points thanks to a Josh Kelly snap on goal in the dying seconds.

Daniels said it was always a tough match against the cross-town rivals.

"The main thing is to beat them in the contest and lock the ball in our front half," he said. "That will help us kick goals and build pressure."