There was a time last season when the Greater Western Sydney Giants were shocking the football world.
Heading into their Round 11 match with Collingwood, the Giants had a 7-3 record, were sitting just outside the top four and already had quality wins over Hawthorn and Adelaide.
Playing an exciting, up-tempo brand of football, the Giants were the surprise team of 2015, behind the excellent play of Shane Mumford, Heath Shaw and Adam Treloar – just to name a few.
Unfortunately for GWS, the fairytale start to the season had a painful finish, as multiple players fell to injury, none bigger (both literally and figuratively) than Mumford.
The 197-centimetre ruckman was enjoying a career-best year with the Giants, some even proclaiming him a legitimate Brownlow Medal contender. Heading into that aforementioned Round 11 match-up, Mumford was third in the AFL in hit-outs per game and ninth in the league in tackles, while he was intimidating opposition players with his brute force.
Then came the game against Collingwood, where Mumford injured his ankle, ending his impressive season. And the injuries kept piling up.
Phil Davis, Joel Patfull and Stephen Coniglio all missed time after that dreadful Sunday afternoon at the MCG, as the Giants limped their way to just four more victories. They finished the year with an even 11-11 record, which coincidentally was good enough for 11th on the AFL ladder.
GWS head into 2016 aiming to build on their excellent first half of the 2015 season, but will need to do so without the services of one of their premier midfielders, as Adam Treloar left the club to join the Magpies in the off-season.
However, the Giants did some recruiting of their own throughout the off-season, as they welcomed academy star Jacob Hopper and Geelong veteran Steve Johnson to the team.
Hopper comes after a stellar run in the GWS academy program, prepared to lead from the front and lift the spirits of his teammates, which is future captain material. Hopper’s boisterous style of play allows him to go in for every contested ball and make his physical presence known in the packs. He is sure to see a lot of time in the orange and grey guernsey this season.
Johnson joins GWS after his sensational career with the Cats came to an end. He not only brings leadership and premiership pedigree to the club, he is still productive on-field. Johnson averaged 20.6 disposals last season and his four-goal effort against St Kilda in Round 21 showed he still has plenty left in the tank.
Best 22
B: Matt Buntine, Aidan Corr, Joel Patfull
HB: Heath Shaw, Phil Davis, Nick Haynes
C: Devon Smith, Callan Ward, Lachie Whitfield
HF: Ryan Griffen, Jonathon Patton, Steve Johnson
F: Cam McCarthy, Jeremy Cameron, Rhys Palmer
Foll: Shane Mumford, Dylan Shiel, Stephen Coniglio
INT: Toby Greene, Jacob Hopper, Adam Tomlinson, Tom Scully
MVP: Heath Shaw
After his controversial move from Collingwood to GWS a few years ago, Shaw found career-best form again in 2015, winning the Giants’ best and fairest award and making his debut in the All Australian team.
The outstanding run Shaw provided from half back allowed the Giants to kickstart many attacks into the forward line, and Shaw’s vocal leadership was also able to help guide and mentor young defenders such as Nick Haynes and Aidan Corr.
Shaw averaged 23.5 disposals last season and led the AFL in five different categories – total kicks, total rebound 50s, kicks per game, rebound 50s per game and total bounces.
Shaw was able to rejuvenate his career in 2015, expect him to keep the good vibes rolling into 2016.
Future Star: Stephen Coniglio
Coniglio’s talent and leadership qualities have never been in question, but injuries have been a frustrating part of his career to this point. The quick midfielder showed how good he can really be in 2015 though, playing 18 games and averaging 23.4 disposals, 13.1 handballs, 10.3 kicks, 5.4 tackles and 3.6 marks per game. The former number two draft pick’s season was highlighted by a 32-disposal effort in GWS’s Round 7 victory over Carlton.
Despite the long list of young talent on the Giants’ list, Coniglio’s name still shines brightest.
Make or break: Rhys Palmer
Ever since making his move to GWS in 2012, Palmer has been a bag of inconsistency, but in 2015 his play started a downward trend.
Palmer’s averages dropped to 15.1 disposals, 9.5 kicks, 5.6 handballs, 3.5 marks, 2.7 tackles and 1.3 goals per game last season, and with the Giants’ list oozing with young talent, there may not be a spot left for Palmer if he continues this poor play in 2016.
Palmer hasn’t had the goal-kicking impact the Giants thought he would when he signed, only managing 18 goals last season, and in 2016 he must pick up his game.
Michael
Guest
Actually , in fact ... Palmer effective disposals per game for 2015 was 68.9% and Fyfe's was 69.4 %. So he isnt far off .Hill of Freo was behind Palmer on 68.3%. footywire.com Ross Lyon on tv last night said he wants to play Fyfe more forward this season but Fyfe doesnt want to play like that . It makes me wonder who is the coach of Freo ?
Dok
Roar Rookie
Really Hawthorn already has more members in Tassie, gees those Taswegians are bandwagoners. GWS are on track for about 15k, not sure whether that is good or bad, it is what it is.
johno
Guest
That's less than the Hawks Tassie members
WhereIsGene
Guest
Bad memories of the 2014 GF Casper? I think this will be the year Sydney finally slides.
Balthazar
Guest
Yep, I always assumed they stockpiled KPFs to trade them but then came the "McCarthy will not be traded under any circumstance" line from the club. Be very interesting (from a Freo perspective, of course) to see how the forward line is structured in 2016.
SportsFanGC
Roar Guru
The Giants are a team that should consider 2016 a failure if they do not make the eight and play finals for the first time in the Club’s history. The team they have assembled has an excellent blend of youth and experience and importantly the experienced players are key contributors and leaders for the younger guys that are coming through the system. Couple this with a hungry and determined young coach that has served proper apprenticeships and outstanding facilities at Olympic Park and all the ingredients are there for what should be a big 2016. If you look at that 22 listed above, these are just some of the players will be spinning their heels in the NEAFL waiting for an opportunity to arise: Jack Steele, Paul Ahern, Jarrod Pickett, Matthew Kennedy, Josh Kelly, Jake Barrett, Will Hoskin-Elliott, Caleb Marchbank and James Stewart. A lot of talent particularly if you consider the number of players that the Giants have lost to other clubs during the course of the last 4 years. Another poster above has mentioned that the team does look heavy with all of Cameron, Patton, McCarthy and Tomlinson listed in the 22 and I think one of them will be substituted for either Steele or Kelly. Limited interchange this year ensures that all clubs will be carrying extra midfielders more so than at any time in the past 5 years. If there is a concern for the Giants throughout the course of the year it comes in the form of the Ruck and KP Defenders. Should they lose Mumford they are going to need to learn to still win clearances and impose themselves on the game without his presence in the middle. The other ruckmen on the list last year did not show a great deal when provided an opportunity in his absence. Additionally the durability of their KP defenders is a big question mark. Phil Davis seems to have an annual serious injury that puts him out for months, Tim Mohr (granted he is not listed in the 22) is coming back from an ACL and Aiden Corr is listed at 194cm and 91kg which is giving away both height and weight against the AFL power forwards. The options they have as KPP in defence falls away pretty quickly after that. The other interesting one for me is Stevie J. A super talented player and match winner in his prime but definitely on the tail end of his career so I would think his performance will be monitored very closely. If his output drops then the Giants have to drop him and bring in a younger kid, probably Pickett or Hoskin-Elliott. I also would think that he will be managed pretty well and I can’t see him making the trips to Perth and Adelaide. The build has been in tough in the first 4 years for the Giants but they are now primed with enormous talent and potential and I suspect that they are going to thrash a few sides that gave them the same treatment in their opening 2-3 seasons.
Casper
Guest
Of course you would expect the Sydney fan base to jump on the GWS bandwagon. The same way that you jumped on the Hawthorn bandwagon a few years back.
Dok
Roar Rookie
I don't think the Swans fan base would jump ship, they have a pretty well run club and i think in general they look down upon GWS.
WhereIsGene
Guest
This may be the year GWS finally overtakes the Swans. In which case I will expect a sizable chunk of Sydney's fanbase to jump onboard the GWS bandwagon.
Don Freo
Guest
Some of us just know every player of every club. He was a Rising Star. Harvey destroyed his Freo time.
Paul D
Roar Guru
Agreed, surely Kelly will get in ahead of Hopper.
Josh
Expert
I agree Paul, Mumford is definitely GWS' most important player, though I'd say Cameron is their most 'valuable'.
Josh
Expert
I was trying to work out why you'd rate Palmer, then I remembered which club he used to play for.
Josh
Expert
Dump Buntine, stick Griffen in the back pocket, dump Hopper too & fill the two spots with Josh Kelly and Will Hoskin-Elliott. That's what I'd do anyway!
Don Freo
Guest
Not many Dockers fans wanted him left on the bench. It was one of the reasons Dockers fans were not sad to see Harvey go. Haselby was just a gun in and under centre square player (with the fastest hands since Greg Williams) and Harvey wanted him to play as a marking small forward. Palmer was aerobically Freo's fittest player who thrived on endurance. Harvey thought it was a good idea to play him in short bursts and take away his best skill. Palmer thought it was a good idea to go elsewhere. Despite his injuries, he has worked well, first as a run with and now, surprisingly effectively, as a small forward. There's more good stuff to come from him.
Dok
Roar Rookie
Apparently already 8,000 members for GWS
Paul D
Roar Guru
I'm with trennery, the Dockers clearly didn't rate him. A newspaper article from 2011 says the Dockers only played him 69.5% of the game time, second lowest of any player at the club. It also says his kicking efficiency was 59.5%, which is terrible, and that he only won the 2007 Rising star award because it was a rubbish field. The Dockers were going to receive an end of first round pick for Palmer leaving, they jumped at it. Do you think he's improved as a player since then? I don't.
Paul D
Roar Guru
Plenty of starving out in western sydney! Confected, AFL funded mob - love it. It's so But hey, give them a few decades and maybe they will start to develop an identity. Can't see them ever not needing the AFL money though.
TomC
Roar Guru
Contracted until 2017.
trenerry boy
Roar Rookie
If Palmer was a decent kick he would still be at the Dockers.