Hi G-Dubs, last year I posted the GWS season preview and it generated some good discussion.
In that spirit, I thought I'd come back and post the 2016 season preview for the Giants.
Genuinely interested in finding out your realistic aims, what has you excited and your feedback on the preview.
I've posted the whole thing here, sans images, to comply with the BigFooty anti-spamming protocols; hopefully that's okay for the mods.
I'll also let the author know it's been posted here so he can engage!
Last campaign
By Andrew Lowcock
Greater Western Sydney’s fourth season as an AFL club was its most successful, with the club breaking even in the win-loss for the first time to finishing in 11th place. It’s a sign of the club’s ambition and growing maturity that it was considered by some to be a disappointment.
The Giants were sitting pretty at 7-3 and fifth place entering one of the club’s biggest games – against Collingwood at the MCG. They were overrun in the fourth quarter, suffered a spate of serious injuries and never quite recaptured the form that saw them beat the likes of Hawthorn, turning Spotless Stadium into a feared venue for opponents for the first time.
Giants fans could, quite rightly, point to the young list and aforementioned succession of injuries to key players in the second half of the season; Shane Mumford, Dylan Shiel, Joel Patfull and Phil Davis were among those to spend significant time on the treatment table.
The club’s standout individual performer was former Magpie Heath Shaw, who claimed the best and fairest award and a berth in the All-Australian team after collecting the most kicks, rebounds from defensive 50 and running bounces in the league. Behind the former Magpie was future Magpie Adam Treloar, which neatly leads us in to…
Comings and goings
Adam Treloar’s much anticipated departure to Collingwood yielded another haul of first round draft picks, but robs Greater Western Sydney of one of their prime midfield movers as he enters his physical peak. Unfortunately for the Giants, even that trade was overshadowed by the saga surrounding promising WA-born forward Cam McCarthy.
The man nicknamed ‘Sunshine’ was denied his requested trade to Fremantle as the Giants dug their heels in after the losses of Treloar and Tom “will not be traded under any circumstances” Boyd, insisting McCarthy fulfil the final two years of his contract. McCarthy is now on indefinite leave with his family in Western Australia, and his football future is unclear. From an on-field perspective, his 35 goals and ability to play alongside Jeremy Cameron will be sorely missed if he does not return.
GWS also traded out several players in the off-season – the majority of them to Carlton. The most notable of these losses is Tom Bugg to Melbourne; Bugg has played about three quarters of all Giants matches and been a solid contributor, primarily as a small defender.
Unlike previous years, when the Giants landed a big fish, the Giants only brought in two players with senior experience. Dawson Simpson is a (very) big body who’ll be an able back-up Shane Mumford in the ruck, but most eyes will be on Steve Johnson, who on the surface looks like a perfect fit in a GWS forward line dominated by Cameron – who’d be surprised to see Stevie J pocket another 30+ goals in 2016?
GWS was able to secure another three top 20 picks in the draft, all developed through their academy: Jacob Hopper is a contested ball magnet highly touted for his leadership at junior level; Matthew Kennedy is a late blooming above average sized midfielder with highly rated endurance and vertical leap; and the delightfully named Harrison Himmelberg may eventually be groomed to replace McCarthy up forward.
Strengths
Greater Western Sydney’s greatest strength is their sheer talent: the Giants still have 11 players who they’ve taken in the top 10 of the last five drafts (plus former Melbourne number one pick Tom Scully). Many of them are still developing talents and immature bodies, but their squad remains the envy of most other list managers in the AFL.
The club’s player development system, on the surface at least, seems to be converting that talent into consistent performers: five of the top seven in last year’s best and fairest were 23 and under.
GWS has a reputation for being a side that thrives in contested situations, but the Giants actually rated in the first third of the competition for uncontested ball, a category where Hawthorn leads by a sizeable margin.
In Jeremy Cameron, the Giants possess perhaps the scariest key forward in the competition considering his power and athleticism, and if Jonathon Patton can put together a full season, the club could yet have the best tandem of key forwards since Franklin and Roughead. It will likely be up to Patton to assume the scoring void left by McCarthy, otherwise the club will need to find a better spread of goal kickers.
Weaknesses
The Giants have developed a plethora of future stars but still need to develop the depth to help them churn out wins with a below strength side. GWS has also fared poorly in their contested possession statistics, ranking last for contested disposals per game and 14th in clearances; a big leap forward in those categories will go a long way to securing a debut finals appearance.
The club’s most important players may be down in defence. They Giants can ill afford to lose Phil Davis and Joel Patfull for multiple weeks as they did last year, as depth in the defensive key position posts is still questionable. A leap by 2014 top 10 draftee Caleb Marchbank would help considerably – he has impressed in pre-season games this year.
What to expect in 2016
Put simply, Greater Western Sydney will expect to improve on its 11-11 record from 2015. It’s not quite ‘finals or bust’ just yet, but they’ll expect to be in the race for the eight until the final rounds of the season.
The young core of this playing group are getting close to maturity and the upside of young talent such as Lachie Whitfield, Josh Kelly, Jarrod Pickett, Paul Ahern and the 2015 draftees mentioned earlier is as high as any group in the competition.
Coach Leon Cameron is comfortable in the big chair and is feeling safe after a recent contract extension until the end of 2018, which gives him the chance to plan for the long term with certainty. Cameron knows it’s still at least three years until the Giants are truly contending with the big boys, but will have watched the rise of a young Western Bulldogs team into finals with keen interest last year; the experience of a cutthroat final would be a vital step in their development.
As a member of the AFL’s ‘middle six, the Giants’ fixture toughens up this year, with dual assignments against Fremantle, Geelong and Port Adelaide, as well as their cross-town rivals. It’s hard to see GWS repeating the fast start of 2015; their first seven games include contests with all four of those previously mentioned teams, as well as the reigning premiers. They simply must take every opportunity available to put enough wins on the board to be in the pack going into the second half of the season.
Best 22
B: Nick Haynes – Phil Davis – Adam Kennedy
HB:Heath Shaw – Joel Patfull – Zac Williams
C: Stephen Coniglio – Callan Ward – Lachie Whitfield
HF: Devon Smith – Jonathon Patton – Tom Scully
F:Steve Johnson – Jeremy Cameron – Rhys Palmer
FOLL: Shane Mumford – Ryan Griffen – Dylan Shiel
INT: Josh Kelly – Toby Greene – Nathan Wilson – Matt Buntine
The Verdict
It looks like being a very congested middle of the ladder in 2016 and Greater Western Sydney is set to be a part of that. Natural development will take them far, but some important personnel losses may mean it’s another year of growing pains for the Giants, and they could be looking at another September away from the action. But surely it won’t be for too much longer.
We have the Giants repeating their 2015 and finishing in 11th place.
In that spirit, I thought I'd come back and post the 2016 season preview for the Giants.
Genuinely interested in finding out your realistic aims, what has you excited and your feedback on the preview.
I've posted the whole thing here, sans images, to comply with the BigFooty anti-spamming protocols; hopefully that's okay for the mods.
I'll also let the author know it's been posted here so he can engage!
Last campaign
By Andrew Lowcock
Greater Western Sydney’s fourth season as an AFL club was its most successful, with the club breaking even in the win-loss for the first time to finishing in 11th place. It’s a sign of the club’s ambition and growing maturity that it was considered by some to be a disappointment.
The Giants were sitting pretty at 7-3 and fifth place entering one of the club’s biggest games – against Collingwood at the MCG. They were overrun in the fourth quarter, suffered a spate of serious injuries and never quite recaptured the form that saw them beat the likes of Hawthorn, turning Spotless Stadium into a feared venue for opponents for the first time.
Giants fans could, quite rightly, point to the young list and aforementioned succession of injuries to key players in the second half of the season; Shane Mumford, Dylan Shiel, Joel Patfull and Phil Davis were among those to spend significant time on the treatment table.
The club’s standout individual performer was former Magpie Heath Shaw, who claimed the best and fairest award and a berth in the All-Australian team after collecting the most kicks, rebounds from defensive 50 and running bounces in the league. Behind the former Magpie was future Magpie Adam Treloar, which neatly leads us in to…
Comings and goings
Adam Treloar’s much anticipated departure to Collingwood yielded another haul of first round draft picks, but robs Greater Western Sydney of one of their prime midfield movers as he enters his physical peak. Unfortunately for the Giants, even that trade was overshadowed by the saga surrounding promising WA-born forward Cam McCarthy.
The man nicknamed ‘Sunshine’ was denied his requested trade to Fremantle as the Giants dug their heels in after the losses of Treloar and Tom “will not be traded under any circumstances” Boyd, insisting McCarthy fulfil the final two years of his contract. McCarthy is now on indefinite leave with his family in Western Australia, and his football future is unclear. From an on-field perspective, his 35 goals and ability to play alongside Jeremy Cameron will be sorely missed if he does not return.
GWS also traded out several players in the off-season – the majority of them to Carlton. The most notable of these losses is Tom Bugg to Melbourne; Bugg has played about three quarters of all Giants matches and been a solid contributor, primarily as a small defender.
Unlike previous years, when the Giants landed a big fish, the Giants only brought in two players with senior experience. Dawson Simpson is a (very) big body who’ll be an able back-up Shane Mumford in the ruck, but most eyes will be on Steve Johnson, who on the surface looks like a perfect fit in a GWS forward line dominated by Cameron – who’d be surprised to see Stevie J pocket another 30+ goals in 2016?
GWS was able to secure another three top 20 picks in the draft, all developed through their academy: Jacob Hopper is a contested ball magnet highly touted for his leadership at junior level; Matthew Kennedy is a late blooming above average sized midfielder with highly rated endurance and vertical leap; and the delightfully named Harrison Himmelberg may eventually be groomed to replace McCarthy up forward.
Strengths
Greater Western Sydney’s greatest strength is their sheer talent: the Giants still have 11 players who they’ve taken in the top 10 of the last five drafts (plus former Melbourne number one pick Tom Scully). Many of them are still developing talents and immature bodies, but their squad remains the envy of most other list managers in the AFL.
The club’s player development system, on the surface at least, seems to be converting that talent into consistent performers: five of the top seven in last year’s best and fairest were 23 and under.
GWS has a reputation for being a side that thrives in contested situations, but the Giants actually rated in the first third of the competition for uncontested ball, a category where Hawthorn leads by a sizeable margin.
In Jeremy Cameron, the Giants possess perhaps the scariest key forward in the competition considering his power and athleticism, and if Jonathon Patton can put together a full season, the club could yet have the best tandem of key forwards since Franklin and Roughead. It will likely be up to Patton to assume the scoring void left by McCarthy, otherwise the club will need to find a better spread of goal kickers.
Weaknesses
The Giants have developed a plethora of future stars but still need to develop the depth to help them churn out wins with a below strength side. GWS has also fared poorly in their contested possession statistics, ranking last for contested disposals per game and 14th in clearances; a big leap forward in those categories will go a long way to securing a debut finals appearance.
The club’s most important players may be down in defence. They Giants can ill afford to lose Phil Davis and Joel Patfull for multiple weeks as they did last year, as depth in the defensive key position posts is still questionable. A leap by 2014 top 10 draftee Caleb Marchbank would help considerably – he has impressed in pre-season games this year.
What to expect in 2016
Put simply, Greater Western Sydney will expect to improve on its 11-11 record from 2015. It’s not quite ‘finals or bust’ just yet, but they’ll expect to be in the race for the eight until the final rounds of the season.
The young core of this playing group are getting close to maturity and the upside of young talent such as Lachie Whitfield, Josh Kelly, Jarrod Pickett, Paul Ahern and the 2015 draftees mentioned earlier is as high as any group in the competition.
Coach Leon Cameron is comfortable in the big chair and is feeling safe after a recent contract extension until the end of 2018, which gives him the chance to plan for the long term with certainty. Cameron knows it’s still at least three years until the Giants are truly contending with the big boys, but will have watched the rise of a young Western Bulldogs team into finals with keen interest last year; the experience of a cutthroat final would be a vital step in their development.
As a member of the AFL’s ‘middle six, the Giants’ fixture toughens up this year, with dual assignments against Fremantle, Geelong and Port Adelaide, as well as their cross-town rivals. It’s hard to see GWS repeating the fast start of 2015; their first seven games include contests with all four of those previously mentioned teams, as well as the reigning premiers. They simply must take every opportunity available to put enough wins on the board to be in the pack going into the second half of the season.
Best 22
B: Nick Haynes – Phil Davis – Adam Kennedy
HB:Heath Shaw – Joel Patfull – Zac Williams
C: Stephen Coniglio – Callan Ward – Lachie Whitfield
HF: Devon Smith – Jonathon Patton – Tom Scully
F:Steve Johnson – Jeremy Cameron – Rhys Palmer
FOLL: Shane Mumford – Ryan Griffen – Dylan Shiel
INT: Josh Kelly – Toby Greene – Nathan Wilson – Matt Buntine
The Verdict
It looks like being a very congested middle of the ladder in 2016 and Greater Western Sydney is set to be a part of that. Natural development will take them far, but some important personnel losses may mean it’s another year of growing pains for the Giants, and they could be looking at another September away from the action. But surely it won’t be for too much longer.
We have the Giants repeating their 2015 and finishing in 11th place.
