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.
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.
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
josh
Guest
You must be joking right ?
Pumping Dougie
Guest
Thanks TomC. Hinkley had an enormous amount of experience as an assistant coach at Geelong, before being poached to Gold Coast and then the Suns. Before all of that, he had success coaching country football. Clarkson coached at Demons, Werribee, Saints, Central Districts and Port, before his gig at Hawthorn. Plus he fits the mould of a player who got the most out of himself.
Powaaaaaa
Guest
I think this is a great evaluation of where the giants are at. I too see them jumping a few of the lower ranked teams this year. If Mumford can hold together the midfield will cause other teams some head aches. With their list being so young I see them fading in and out of too many games without consistency and not dealing with fatigue as well as the premiership contending teams. I think the defence will be their great weakness and they badly need a tall defender with power and strength to command a back six at afl level. Their forward line has holes as u mentioned but one player u havnt included who I rate is Cameron McCarthy, I think he will fill the second or third tall position in the team very well. May surprise a few and kick a couple of bags behind the well documented J Cameron!!
Cameron Rose
Expert
Ha, I'll leave the Pythagorean stuff to you Ryan, and hope that my feel stands up okay! As you know, I rate Ward and Griffen really highly, and expect the acquisition of the latter to have a major impact.
Cameron Rose
Expert
My general view on Leon Cameron is that there's just something unimpressive about his public persona. I don't learn anything from listening to him when he speaks. That's not to say he can't coach, but it's just how he comes across to me. The jury is well and truly out on him for mine.
TomC
Roar Guru
Hmm. Surely Clarkson and Hinkley were also inexperienced and needed to prove themselves shortly before they became very successful?
Pumping Dougie
Guest
No, I haven't heard any poor examples of Leon Cameron's man-management skills and I'm not criticising him personally, but I think he's inexperienced and lacking a little bit in credibility, which he will need to earn. Age and expereince definitely make a difference in managing people. The coaches who succeed early in their AFL career have generally all been in successful environments as an assistant coach and usually as a player as well. I think Cameron's background as assistant coach was at the Bulldogs and Richmond, as was his playing career. He also spent time at Hawthorn, but that doesn't mean every coach at Hawthorn was capable of being a successful AFL coach - as we saw with Mark Neeld in charge of Melbourne after coming out of Collingwood. Plus he was a silky skilled-footballer, rather than a bloke with lesser skills who got the absolute best out of himself. That doesn't mean he won't develop into a good coach, but I think at this stage of his career he's lacking in credibility.
IanW
Guest
They call him Sunshine. He kicked a goal with his first kick in AFL footy. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lQoHGBouuxc
Ryan Buckland
Expert
I don't know about that, Dougie. He's a Clarkson disciple, and has been around successful units for most of his coaching career (the Bullies between '04 and '10, and then Hawthorn during their '10s run). He was pretty highly sought after in 2013 when there was a few vacancies. I get your point that he's relatively inexperienced, but I don't think that makes him less qualified to be a senior coach.
TomC
Roar Guru
Interesting. Is that just because of inexperience, or is it because of something particular about Cameron, PD? I think Ross Lyon would be a poor fit for GWS, myself.
Ryan Buckland
Expert
People think [b]I[/b] write long articles...
Ryan Buckland
Expert
GWS ahead of West Coast? I think you might be on to something here, Cam. Which says more about the Eagles than it does the Giants. The only thing I would say is that GWS overachieved their Pythagorean expected wins by 2.0 last year, second only to Brisbane (+2.4). It'll take a fairly big lift at both ends for them to get above six wins, I think, but as you argue its very possible. They could very easily be 5-4 after the first nine rounds; and conceivably 6-3 if they can knock off Adelaide (who'll still be adjusting to a new game plan in Round 8). Will be watching Saturday's game with keen interest.
Don Freo
Guest
It would be interesting to read your thoughts about what you have seen that is lacking from his man management skills. Any examples? Have you heard aspects of his addresses that are lacking in motivational factors? It would be interesting to hear your insider's view. I'm assuming you're an insider...or are you just guessing?
Pumping Dougie
Guest
I think most of us look at the GWS line-up on paper and recognise the talent and assume it's just a matter of time, like Gold Coast, before they blossom into a finals contender. But I don't think we give enough thought to the quality of the coach. I'm not bagging Leon Cameron per se, but he's definitely still a bit of an unknown quality and inexperienced. If GWS had Clarkson or Ross Lyon or even Ken Hinkley as coach, they'd be better-placed to climb the ladder. Playing lists are more important than coaches, but the coach is still critical and I'm not convinced Leon Cameron has the man-management and motivational skills required to get that bit extra out of them.
mds1970
Roar Guru
There'll be plenty of feeling in that one. On the back of the win in the dying seconds last year; and with Ryan Griffen and Tom Boyd in high-profile club-swapping. I'm coming down to Melbourne for that game - that's one not to be missed.
Epiquin
Roar Guru
But the Panthers and Bulldogs flying.
ciudadmarron
Guest
Has anyone ever been? The Giants did go there once or twice themselves at one point I think, then got out of there. Too many felafels and immigrants.
Patrick Effeney
Editor
I LOVE IT when people get carried away.
TomC
Roar Guru
Sorry. Got a bit carried away.
Patrick Effeney
Editor
You need to write articles... Big time...