Greater Western Sydney improved out of sight in 2016, making finals for the first time and falling painfully short off a maiden grand final berth.
You can say what you want about the concessions, but this impressive team will be hard to stop in 2017.
Let’s have a look at the list changes made in the off-season.
Additions: Brett Deledio (Richmond), Tendai Mzungu, Matt de Boer (Fremantle), Tim Taranto, Will Setterfield, Harry Perryman, Isaac Cumming, Lachlan Tiziani, Jake Stein, Zach Sproule (draft)
Subtractions: Caleb Marchbank, Jarrod Pickett, Rhys Palmer (Carlton), Jack Steele (St Kilda), Cam McCarthy (Fremantle), Will Hoskin-Elliott (Collingwood), James Stewart (Essendon), Paul Ahern (North Melbourne), Pat McKenna (Melbourne), Joel Patfull (retired), Jake Barrett (delisted)
What happened last year?
GWS overcame an iffy 1-2 start to the season in resounding fashion, winning six straight to kick-start an impressive 16-6 campaign that saw them not only make finals for the first time, but finish inside the top four.
Half of the club’s six losses came at ten points or fewer, and they became nigh impossible to defeat at their home grounds of Spotless Stadium and StarTrack Oval.
Any concerns of stage fright in the finals were dashed with a thumping win over arch-rivals Sydney in the qualifying final, but their march to the flag was ended after they came up second best in all-time classic preliminary final against the Western Bulldogs.
What’s changed?
Despite appearing in just about every transaction last trade period, the Giants’ list is largely unchanged heading into 2017.
The club mostly offloaded depth players to secure draft picks, or rather draft points. Jack Steele will likely thrive at St Kilda, although the Giants simply don’t have room for him the line-up. The loss of Caleb Marchbank however, coupled with Joel Patfull’s retirement, will test their key defensive stocks.
Brett Deledio’s move was one of the biggest stories of the trade period, but it’s the draft crop once again for GWS, this time headlined by Tim Taranto, that will have tongues wagging about the Giants’ new faces in 2017.
What needs to happen in 2017?
There’s almost nothing on coach Leon Cameron’s to-do list in 2017 outside of win the premiership.
The Giants finished 2016 atop the competition in almost every statistical area. In terms of match averages, they were first for clearances, first for inside 50s, second for goals, second for rebound 50s, third for hit-outs, fourth for disposals and fifth for marks.
GWS even comfortably topped the AFL in running bounces per game by a considerable margin.
The only notable areas the club finished outside the top half of the competition for were effective disposal percentage (although that percentage was just 1.7 per cent lower than the top team), and tackles, which makes sense given you can’t really tackle the opposition if you’re hogging the ball.
What needs to happen in 2017 is for the Giants to improve their play away from home.
This season they face off against the Crows in Adelaide, the Swans at the SCG, the Eagles in Perth, the Hawks in Launceston, the Bulldogs at Etihad and the Cats in Geelong.
The Giants didn’t play many of those fixtures last season, but they lost each one they did.
That can’t happen in 2017 if they’re to get back to the top four.
The verdict
The Giants have immense talent everywhere on their list. The midfield is unquestionably elite, the forward line has a potent mix of dominant tall forwards and lethal small forwards, they boast two of the best ruckmen in the competition, and their back six is more than good enough to hold up their end of the bargain.
They’ll be there at the end of the season.
Prediction: second
Round 5 of the AFL provided plenty of action, from big scorelines to upset wins and pressure starting to build on some clubs and coaches already.
Geelong has been crafty and creative in its list management and has quietly assembled a very exciting young group of midfielders and half-forwards.
Brisbane co-captain Lachie Neale will be looking to lead his team to a victory against Melbourne in what will be his 250th AFL game.
It’s high stakes with five teams having lost their first three games of season 2024, and in desperate need of a win.
It could be a weekend for contenders to emerge, teams to hopefully break droughts, o and overall footy to have a party.
We’ve already seen what Jack Ginnivan is capable of at Collingwood with his ability to grasp big moments - how will he go against his former teammates?
