Coming off their best AFL season ever in 2016, the Giants came tantalisingly close to a grand final appearance. They have put together a team that will compete for premierships over the next decade.
The Giants finished last year with 16 wins and six losses, falling in the preliminary final to the Western Bulldogs after defeating cross-town rivals Sydney Swans in impressive fashion.
The Giants are lead by the best young core in the AFL, with terrific depth, speed, toughness and skill leading their midfield.
Dylan Shiel, Callan Ward, Toby Greene, Tom Scully, Josh Kelly and Jacob Hopper are leading the charge for the Giants, with the likes of All-Australian’s Heath Shaw, Steve Johnson and Jeremy Cameron also leading the side.
The Giants took a notably different path than the Gold Coast Suns did. Instead of targeting an all-time great like Gary Ablett, the Giants chose to build around their young core.
Their marketing strategy was to recruit Kevin Sheedy as coach, with Leon Cameron set as his successor. This not only gave them public exposure in a rugby dominated town, but gave their younger brigade of talent a mentor to guide them through losing seasons.
But now they are a force to be reckoned with, and are starting to take over the Swans as the best AFL team in Sydney.
Beyond the talent that they already have, the Giants had four of the top twenty picks in the 2016 draft, and two of the top five.
Their first two selections, Tim Taranto and Will Setterfield, are both talented midfielders, who can play up forward. This adds to the depth of their midfield, which is already arguably the best in the AFL already.
More importantly, they won’t be required to carry the load in the middle for twenty games in their first seasons, allowing time for physical and mental maturity.
Beyond their dominant midfield, the Giants have terrific run off their half back line, led by Nathan Wilson, Heath Shaw and Zac Williams, who has recently signed a contract extension.
Heath Shaw led the AFL in rebound 50s last season, while the ability of Williams and Wilson to roost a ball fifty plus meters catches teams over the back.
Their link up play through the middle of the ground through players such as Deledio, Coniglio, Smith and Shiel allows Cameron and Patton to get easy opportunities in front of goal.
The ruck work of Shane Mumford is elite, and he adds to the already terrific tackle pressure of the Giants midfield.
Along with Mumford, Rory Lobb proved to be one of the best contested marks in the league last season, and provides valuable minutes in the ruck when called upon.
As disappointing as last season’s preliminary final loss was, it will be the start of a dynasty for the GWS Giants.
If there’s one thing we learned from their finals campaign, it is that they are tough, hard-nosed, and here to stay.
Maxo
Guest
Republican The melbourne storm players come from Qld or NZ - so what?? your hypocrisy with regards the Giants is an obsession
Maxo
Guest
Send them to Tassie or Canberra where they wont be plastic - funny the Canberra Queanbeyan raiders were easybeats and then broke the salary cap to be unbeatable (plastic?) or the Melbourne Storm - were they plastic when they won in their second year with dubious accounting.(yes I know they were investigated from 2006 on - didn't that strike you as odd but they were trying to pin it on Waldron)..
Republican
Guest
....now thats a bit of a diversion Cat, highlighting ellipsis or a lack thereof. Do you feel somewhat superior now? I can already imagine what your handshake would be like. As to the question why Geelong - why bother clarifying the bleeding obvious......?
Cat
Roar Guru
Why Geelong what? PS: If you are going to insist on using them so frequently please learn how to use an ellipsis properly.
Republican
Guest
........changing this plastic tele teams brand should be viewed as clever marketing, as with the Brumbies who rebranded to Brumbies Rugby, dropping the ACT component. This ensures that you maintain the engagement of the whole demographic as opposed to marginalising it. Then the reality is more likely to be that GWS will drop the ACT et el, as soon as they are able to stand alone as a West Sydney sporting entity.
Republican
Guest
PS Saint Kilda have been compromising their identity with the passing years but then, their support base has always been anywhere south of the Yarra that said they are destined to be reinvented as the NZ misnomers, in their search for commercial relevance.
Republican
Guest
........so why Geelong then?
Republican
Guest
....concur while Gillon is already talking up the next plastic entity in NZ. Breathtaking really......
Tricky
Guest
True that is and they would definitely not be anywhere near what they are without it, the dogs however only get assistance for existence - they're just good off their own bat - can't say the same for gws
Tricky
Guest
@ Slane, bris were undefeatable 3 times in the GF, read my post again I clearly stated that it was about the GF
Cat
Roar Guru
Sports team location names mean nothing anyway, why get so hung up about semantics? Should St Kilda rebrand itself to the Mornington Pennisula Saints or where ever they've moved this week? How about Hawthorn, maybe they should be the Tassie/Waverly Hawks? How about the Casey Demons? Maybe the Yarra River Pies because they sure aren't based in Collingwood, how about the Parkville Blues?
Republican
Guest
.........very confident. I beg to differ......
Republican
Guest
I really think this brand should re brand to honestly reflect its support and talent base, to Greater Western Giants or Western Giants truth be told rather than trying to have their lamington and eat it too. Sydney is not Western Sydney anyway, these are seperate urban entities, while the Giants are dependant on the Riverina and the ACT for both memberships and grass roots talent - fact.
Jack Russell
Roar Guru
AFL annual reports. And i'm pretty sure that without those AFL millions, GWS would die as well.
Republican
Guest
.........this television owned plastic entity, that could win a flag prematurely, however this does not mean they will ever win the good people of GWS over.
Slane
Guest
But they were beaten multiple times, so unbeatable still isn't the word you were looking for.
Tricky
Guest
Yep and who won the flag come the big day - 3 times in a row?
Beny Iniesta
Guest
"They are a manufactured creation, and even when they win five flags on the trot (very likely)" You reckon it's "very likely" they'll win 5 Premierships in a row??? What odds are you offering? $1.90?
Beny Iniesta
Guest
Brisbane Lions unbeatable? How many times did they finish on top of the ladder 2001-2004?? From memory it was 2001 - Essendon 2002 - Port Adelaide 2003 - Port Adelaide 2004 - Port Adelaide Where the hell were the unbeatable Lions? One would assume an unbeaten team would finish on top of the ladder????
me too
Guest
nothing on the ipad. can only reload the page and hope.