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Rosey's 2015 AFL preview: Greater Western Sydney Giants

4th March, 2015
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4th March, 2015
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Last year, Greater Western Sydney were able to shrug off the tag of bullied runt of the litter, and take a couple of baby steps up the ladder. This year, they can take a few more.

In 2014, the Giants finished off the bottom of the table for the first time. They didn’t rank last for points against, a maiden occurrence.

And for the first time, they didn’t trail the competition in points for. In fact, they outscored four teams across the season, including Collingwood.

To read the rest of Cam’s series, go to our AFL preview series page

In the off-season they lost Tom Boyd to the Western Bulldogs, but stripped them of their captain Ryan Griffen. It’s worth remembering that Griffen was widely regarded as a top-five or ten midfielder in the competition 18 months ago, and will have an enormous impact on this still-young side.

Let’s have a look at what their best squad may look like:

B: H.Shaw P.Davis N.Haynes
HB: C.Hampton J.Patfull A.Kennedy
C: R.Griffen C.Ward T.Greene
HF: D.Smith A.Tomlinson L.Whitfield
F: R.Palmer J.Cameron W.Hoskin-Elliott
Foll: S.Mumford A.Treloar D.Shiel
Int: T.Scully S.Coniglio J.Kelly J.Steele
Em: T.Bugg M.Buntine L.Plowman

This squad doesn’t include the number one pick from the 2011 draft, key forward Jonathon Patton, because of his unknown availability after the ACL injury he suffered last year.

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Of the best 22 selected above, 14 have now played 50 matches or more, with their five most experienced players owning an array of honours between them, including best and fairests, All-Australians, premiership medals and the like. The Giants’ depth is slowly increasing.

The defence looks much more solid with the addition of Joel Patfull, a dual best and fairest winner from Brisbane, after gaining Heath Shaw before last season. We can forget how good Phil Davis is due to only playing 24 matches across the last two years, but if these three can play most games in 2015, GWS will have a much more imposing defence.

Curtly Hampton will also be hoping to get on the park more, and share play-making duties from the back fifty with Shaw. Hampton drips with talent and could easily become the Andrew McLeod of this generation off half-back.

Toby Greene and Adam Treloar are the ball magnets through the midfield, complemented by Dylan Shiel and Stephen Coniglio. They can all rack up the ball on the outside, but also put their head over it when it’s their turn, as you would if you were being led into battle by Callan Ward each week.

Ward is a top-ten midfielder in the competition, and there are none harder at the contest when seeking out a contested possession or trying to stop an opponent in his tracks. The aforementioned Griffen also loves it in close, but is silky on the outside as well.

Speaking of silk, Lachie Whitfield and Josh Kelly possess exactly that in both their movements and disposals.

The Giants’ engine room is growing ever-deeper, and is beautifully balanced both within the contest and spreading from it. And with the intimidating force of Shane Mumford feeding them from the ruck and providing a presence around the ground, all boxes are being ticked.

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In Patton’s absence, and with Boyd’s trading to the Dogs, the GWS forward-line still has a patchwork feel, and will likely be the area that prevents them from pushing for finals this season.

Jeremy Cameron is the star, albeit one that waned last season as injury affected his form. Adam Tomlinson will be the lead-up player to provide an option between the arcs. Devon Smith will have the impact of a Robbie Gray before too long, he’s already well on the way. And Will Hoskin-Elliott might just be the best of the lot.

The Giants will improve again this year, and it might just be more than most people are allowing for. They’ve stock-piled the most extraordinary list of top-end talent, and have astutely added hand-picked experienced players in the last two seasons. Don’t let them catch you off guard.

Predicted ladder spread: 11th – 14th

Predicted finish: 13th

Rosey’s ladder so far
13th – Greater Western Sydney
14th – West Coast
15th – Carlton
16th – Melbourne
17th – Western Bulldogs
18th – St Kilda

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