Thomas Schnurrer is confident Graz Giants can rebound from tough loss

| American Football | 04/08/2021

Thomas Schnurrer and the Projekt Spielberg Graz Giants suffered at the hands of Chad Jeffries and the Ssangyong Danube Dragons two weeks ago in the Austrian Football League season opener, but the Giants starting linebacker is looking to secure his first win this coming Saturday against Swarco Raiders.

The Giants and Head Coach Martin Kocian came into the 2021 season with a completely new supporting cast which included quarterback Conor Miller (Florida Atlantic DI), ex-NFL receiver Darrell Adams Jr. (Azusa Pacific DII) and defensive back Juwan Haynes (Toledo DI).

Schnurrer said this about the Giants loss:

“Against the Dragons we weren’t ready to compete against a good team as the Dragons. Those guys are playing together for four years now and they’re like a well oiled machine.”

Schnurrer, the hard-hitting linebacker, started his career in his home town with the Giants in 2008 when he was 14, and has stayed with the team since. In the 2019 season, Schnurrer recorded 79 tackles in 11 games, leading the AFL – showing that the Giants have the ability to develop and retain domestic talent as well.

The Giants will be up against 2019 (the last full season) Austrian Bowl champions Swarco Raiders this weekend which may prove to be even more of a challenge as the Raiders have shown year after year what a power house they are.

Here is what Schnurrer had to say about the upcoming game:

“Against the Raiders I’ve got some mixed feelings. Nobody really knows what’s going on out there in Innsbruck. We don’t know who retired or stayed there. We only know Shelton is still there and he’s one of the best in Austria. We need to bring our A game, which we will, and just get out there and do our thing. Be on the same page from play one and give it our best on in three phases.”

Watch the Swarco-Graz game this coming Saturday on AFI.tv.

Daniel Mackenzie is a Press Association graduate who works in journalism and communications in the third sector. Daniel began playing football for the London Warriors and Team Great Britain and has since played across Europe.