On Saturday night when the Western Bulldogs were playing Richmond, I noticed one of the Channel Seven commentators discussing the future of Daniel Giansiracusa at the Western Bulldogs.
According to an earlier interview with Bulldogs coach Brendan McCartney in the broadcast of the game, McCartney believed that Giansiracusa would make a great assistant coach for next season.
Although Giansiracusa has played in 10 of 12 matches this year for the Bulldogs, he has been regularly used as a substitute by McCartney (he was the substitute in their clash against Richmond last Saturday as well).
Many commentators have questioned why Giansiracusa has often been the substitute this season, especially when the Bulldogs have been in desperate need of more mature players to guide their very young squad on match-day.
Incredibly, even while Giansiracusa has been the substitute on five occasions this season, he is the leading goal-kicker for the Western Bulldogs with 15 goals.
More importantly, his work off the ball in guiding his young side whilst on the field has been imperative to the Bulldogs performing more respectably over the past month.
Whilst McCartney was indicating that Giansiracusa would be looking to retire at the end of this season, there are enough suggestions from Giansiracusa’s output on and off the field that he may not be on the cusp of retiring just yet.
Giansiracusa, who turns 32 next March, could still potentially play on for another season if he can manage his body for the week-to-week rigours of AFL football.
If the Bulldogs do not want to retain him for another season, would Giansiracusa be interested in playing another season elsewhere?
Enter the GWS Giants.
The Giants have had an incredibly tough season, compounded by the fact that their young playing list has been exposed brutally against some of the top sides in the AFL.
In comparison to last year when the Giants had Chad Cornes, James McDonald, Luke Power and Dean Brogan as their mature-aged players, out of those four players, McDonald and Power retired last year, Cornes has not played all season and Brogan has only played five matches this season and like Cornes, will most likely retire at the end of the year.
Whilst the Giants recruited matured-aged players Stephen Gilham and Bret Thornton for this season, Gilham has been serviceable, however has not convincingly cemented a spot in the Giants side while Thornton has only managed to make the one appearance for the Giants so far this season.
Although there has been much speculation as to whether Lance Franklin would join the Giants next season, the Giants should focus on recruiting a few mature-aged players as well to help support the talented young list that they have at their disposal.
Giansiracusa would be a perfect fit to the Giants as a reliable mature-aged player who can fill a role on the field whilst being a leader to such a young side off it as well.
Considering that Leon Cameron will take over the role of Giants coach for the 2014 season, his time with Giansiracusa whilst being an assistant coach at the Western Bulldogs may provide some impetus to lure Giansiracusa in a player/coach role for the Giants next year.
Only time will tell…
Connor
Roar Rookie
How big will the AFL let the GWS list be? They won't have many retiring at the end of this year, and if they take Gia and Buddy, as well as several draft picks, then won't the list be over fifty strong, when most clubs have around 44 or so? Isn't that a little bit unfair to have more depth than everyone else, as well as the huge sums of money they are being given?
Trev
Roar Rookie
The Bulldogs are bringing in a stand alone ressies side next year. They should do what they can to keep Gia around, maybe in a playing/coaching role in the VFL.
Rooboy
Guest
GWS should not become a retirement home for washed-up players. If there are mid-twenties players available that's a different call. However, they need to ditch Sheedy ASAP and empower Leon Cameron to coach upfront and take the club forward.
Imperious
Guest
They need big players - they have plenty of Giras type...
mindquad
Guest
Reckon this is a good idea for Siracusa. God knows the Bulldogs aren't gong anywhere anytime soon. Ok, so GWS aren't either, but at least there's probably more of a chance there...
Jermayn
Guest
Think they would be better at picking up 26-28 year olds, players they can get minimum of 2-3 seasons out of. Campbell Brown at Gold Coast is a great pick up and example on what GWS should be targetting as he is in the later years of his career but he is able to give more than just one season of experience.
Avatar
Roar Guru
GWS desperately need a mature-aged player to help lift the team next year and Giansiracusa is the perfect player to do that. You have mentioned that he also played under former assistant coach Leon Cameron - that could mix in well next year with Cameron to be the new GWS head coach. They know each other well, and that knowledge will be crucial to the Giants' hopes of making a rise next year. Gia and Buddy could be two huge targets for GWS next year; should they both move north, then it will be met with massive fanfare.
TomC
Roar Guru
My understanding is that Giansiracusa was considering retirement at the end of last season. Maybe he'll go elsewhere as an assistant but I don't think he'll play footy at any club in 2014.
Ian Whitchurch
Guest
My thinking is that GWS is a good destination for any player who has got half a season in him and is looking to coach after he's done playing.