Following the 2018 exodus of Giants players with the likes of Dylan Shiel, Rory Lobb, Will Setterfield and Tom Scully, Big Footy poster TBOW put the below team together to compare what a former GWS best 22 would look like.
GWS BEST 22 (SELECTED BY AFL.COM)
B: SHAW – CORR – HAYNES
HB: WILLIAMS – DAVIS – KENNEDY
C: KELLY – WARD – WHITFIELD
HF: DELEDIO – CAMERON – GREENE
F: LANGDON – PATTON – HIMMELBERG
FOL: SIMPSON – CONIGLIO – HOPPER
I/C: TARANTO – TOMLINSON – DeBOER – TAYLOR
EX GWS BEST 22
B: FROST – HOMBSCH – PLOWMAN
HB: WILSON – MARCHBANK – SCULLY
C: SMITH – TYSON – ADAMS
HF: AHERN – MCCARTHY – HOSKIN-ELLIOTT
F: STEWART – BRUCE – PICKETT
FOL: LOBB – TRELOAR – SHIEL
I/C: BOYD – STEELE – KENNEDY – SETTERFIELD
Having a closer look and both teams have great midfields. Treloar, Adams, Smith, Shiel, Tyson, Steele and Kennedy has arguably as much top end talent as a the current GWS best team and probably even more depth.
The Exers backline looks pretty competitive. Marchbank, Hombsch and Frost would be a savvy and athletic set of talls while Scully and Wilson would provide great run and rebound. Plowman would be a good matchup for gun medium forward Toby Greene.
GWS’s backline though would have little trouble stopping the Exers from scoring. James Stewart, McCarthy and Bruce all had years to forget though Hoskin-Elliott would bring a lot of x-factor. Tom Boyd never came on as a forward, though he and Lobb could do quite well switching out of the ruck.
Verdict: Don’t think the GWS boys would be particularly haunted by the ghosts of Spotless Stadium past, but if they can’t keep Kelly and Coniglio next trade season it might be a different story in 2020.
