News Giants in the Media

Hendo_21

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Aug 14, 2021
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The Giants lost their first three matches in 2021, endured a horror injury run and spent months on the road because of Sydney’s Covid-19 outbreak.
But none of that stopped them from returning to the finals, helped by an incredible Round 21 upset of Geelong with a severely undermanned line-up.

Catch every moment of The Ashes live and ad-break free during play on Kayo. New to Kayo? Try 14-days free now.

GWS beat Sydney to reach the second week in September, but lost superstar forward Toby Greene to suspension for the first five rounds of next season.

How will they go in 2022? Marc McGowan assesses the Giants’ hopes.

[PLAYERCARD]Stephen Coniglio[/PLAYERCARD] will be looking to bounce back from a down season. Picture: Getty Images

Stephen Coniglio will be looking to bounce back from a down season. Picture: Getty Images
Coach: Leon Cameron

Captain: Stephen Coniglio

WHERE DO THEY FINISH IN 2022
GWS will expect to make the finals again after retaining every senior regular except forward Jeremy Finlayson — who isn’t a major loss. A top-four berth is possible with a better injury run.

The Giants will be expecting big things out of Tanner Bruhn. Picture: Michael Klein

The Giants will be expecting big things out of Tanner Bruhn. Picture: Michael Klein
BIGGEST IMPROVER
Tanner Bruhn is an elite young talent who was the No.12 pick in last year’s draft. He played 13 senior games in his debut season and was even trusted in the centre on occasion, with his decision-making and poise among his strengths.

X-FACTOR
It has to be Bobby Hill, who unsuccessfully requested a trade to Essendon this year. How that situation plays out will be fascinating. Hill’s highlight reel is must watch, but whether he becomes more consistently impactful will be significant, especially with Greene out early in the season.

Bobby Hill has the x-factor to be a difference maker for the Giants. Picture: AFL Photos

Bobby Hill has the x-factor to be a difference maker for the Giants. Picture: AFL Photos
COACH STATUS
Cameron is out of contract at the end of next season, having signed a two-year extension in September 2020. He is one of the AFL’s most-scrutinised coaches but his effort to lead the injury-ravaged Giants to the second week of the finals was commendable.

Will [PLAYERCARD]Leon Cameron[/PLAYERCARD] coach beyond the end of 2022? Picture: Getty Images

Will Leon Cameron coach beyond the end of 2022? Picture: Getty Images
WHO IS IN THE LAST YEAR OF THEIR CONTRACT
Ryan Angwin, Kieren Briggs, Callum Brown, Tanner Bruhn, Jack Buckley, Isaac Cumming, Phil Davis, Matt de Boer, Cameron Fleeton, Bobby Hill, Jesse Hogan, Connor Idun, Lachie Keeffe, Adam Kennedy, Daniel Lloyd, Xavier O’Halloran, James Peatling, Harry Perryman, Will Shaw, Zach Sproule, Jake Stein, Tim Taranto, Callan Ward, Jacob Wehr

INS FOR 2022
Finn Callaghan (pick three), Jarrod Brander (delisted free agent), Leek Aleer (15), Josh Fahey (42), Cooper Hamilton (rookie)

OUTS FROM 2021
Matt Buntine (delisted), Jeremy Finlayson (traded – Port Adelaide), Tom Hutchesson (delisted), Shane Mumford (delisted), Sam Reid (delisted), Nick Shipley (delisted)

The Giants will have to live without co-captain [PLAYERCARD]Toby Greene[/PLAYERCARD] for the first five weeks of season 2022. Picture: Getty Images

The Giants will have to live without co-captain Toby Greene for the first five weeks of season 2022. Picture: Getty Images
FIRST SIX GAMES AND HOW MANY THEY WIN
Sydney Swans L

Richmond W

Gold Coast W

Fremantle L

Melbourne L

St Kilda W

Prediction: 3 wins, 3 losses
 

Hendo_21

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Oh Giants just officialy announced it, will be a part time position mainly working with the leadership group and "emerging leaders"
 

Battlepants

All Australian
Feb 6, 2019
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The Giants lost their first three matches in 2021, endured a horror injury run and spent months on the road because of Sydney’s Covid-19 outbreak.
But none of that stopped them from returning to the finals, helped by an incredible Round 21 upset of Geelong with a severely undermanned line-up.

Catch every moment of The Ashes live and ad-break free during play on Kayo. New to Kayo? Try 14-days free now.

GWS beat Sydney to reach the second week in September, but lost superstar forward Toby Greene to suspension for the first five rounds of next season.

How will they go in 2022? Marc McGowan assesses the Giants’ hopes.

Stephen Coniglio will be looking to bounce back from a down season. Picture: Getty Images

Stephen Coniglio will be looking to bounce back from a down season. Picture: Getty Images
Coach: Leon Cameron

Captain: Stephen Coniglio

WHERE DO THEY FINISH IN 2022
GWS will expect to make the finals again after retaining every senior regular except forward Jeremy Finlayson — who isn’t a major loss. A top-four berth is possible with a better injury run.

The Giants will be expecting big things out of Tanner Bruhn. Picture: Michael Klein

The Giants will be expecting big things out of Tanner Bruhn. Picture: Michael Klein
BIGGEST IMPROVER
Tanner Bruhn is an elite young talent who was the No.12 pick in last year’s draft. He played 13 senior games in his debut season and was even trusted in the centre on occasion, with his decision-making and poise among his strengths.

X-FACTOR
It has to be Bobby Hill, who unsuccessfully requested a trade to Essendon this year. How that situation plays out will be fascinating. Hill’s highlight reel is must watch, but whether he becomes more consistently impactful will be significant, especially with Greene out early in the season.

Bobby Hill has the x-factor to be a difference maker for the Giants. Picture: AFL Photos

Bobby Hill has the x-factor to be a difference maker for the Giants. Picture: AFL Photos
COACH STATUS
Cameron is out of contract at the end of next season, having signed a two-year extension in September 2020. He is one of the AFL’s most-scrutinised coaches but his effort to lead the injury-ravaged Giants to the second week of the finals was commendable.

Will Leon Cameron coach beyond the end of 2022? Picture: Getty Images

Will Leon Cameron coach beyond the end of 2022? Picture: Getty Images
WHO IS IN THE LAST YEAR OF THEIR CONTRACT
Ryan Angwin, Kieren Briggs, Callum Brown, Tanner Bruhn, Jack Buckley, Isaac Cumming, Phil Davis, Matt de Boer, Cameron Fleeton, Bobby Hill, Jesse Hogan, Connor Idun, Lachie Keeffe, Adam Kennedy, Daniel Lloyd, Xavier O’Halloran, James Peatling, Harry Perryman, Will Shaw, Zach Sproule, Jake Stein, Tim Taranto, Callan Ward, Jacob Wehr

INS FOR 2022
Finn Callaghan (pick three), Jarrod Brander (delisted free agent), Leek Aleer (15), Josh Fahey (42), Cooper Hamilton (rookie)

OUTS FROM 2021
Matt Buntine (delisted), Jeremy Finlayson (traded – Port Adelaide), Tom Hutchesson (delisted), Shane Mumford (delisted), Sam Reid (delisted), Nick Shipley (delisted)

The Giants will have to live without co-captain Toby Greene for the first five weeks of season 2022. Picture: Getty Images

The Giants will have to live without co-captain Toby Greene for the first five weeks of season 2022. Picture: Getty Images
FIRST SIX GAMES AND HOW MANY THEY WIN
Sydney Swans L

Richmond W

Gold Coast W

Fremantle L

Melbourne L

St Kilda W

Prediction: 3 wins, 3 losses

The fact that they couldn't even get the Captain right made me disinclined to read the rest of it.
 
Biggest Mistake 2022 - Employing James Hird in a leadership role?
I ll hold judgement until it plays out.
It certainly has the chance to go pear shape.
The bloke also has loads of success, it may end up being a master stroke.
Not sure it is a risk I'd take.
 
Greater Western Sydney ruckman Braydon Preuss is "ready and raring to go" as he looks to make his Giants debut in 2022.

After joining the Harbour City side ahead of last year, the 26-year-old endured a luckless run of injuries that kept him sidelined for the entire season.

A shoulder injury in February placed Preuss out of action for an extended period before suffering a pectoral injury that curtailed his 2021 campaign.

Seen as their likely first-string ruckman in his maiden year with the Giants, Preuss' absence forced senior coach Leon Cameron to experiment with his ruck stocks, handing Matthew Flynn and Kieren Briggs their AFL debuts.

More here
https://www.zerohanger.com/gws-ruckman-fit-and-firing-ahead-of-highly-anticipated-season-96448/
 

PaythePerryman

Club Legend
Oct 13, 2020
1,002
1,634
AFL Club
GWS
Greater Western Sydney ruckman Braydon Preuss is "ready and raring to go" as he looks to make his Giants debut in 2022.

After joining the Harbour City side ahead of last year, the 26-year-old endured a luckless run of injuries that kept him sidelined for the entire season.

A shoulder injury in February placed Preuss out of action for an extended period before suffering a pectoral injury that curtailed his 2021 campaign.

Seen as their likely first-string ruckman in his maiden year with the Giants, Preuss' absence forced senior coach Leon Cameron to experiment with his ruck stocks, handing Matthew Flynn and Kieren Briggs their AFL debuts.

More here
https://www.zerohanger.com/gws-ruckman-fit-and-firing-ahead-of-highly-anticipated-season-96448/
Thank *
 

Hendo_21

Club Legend
Aug 14, 2021
1,928
2,756
AFL Club
GWS
Greater Western Sydney ruckman Braydon Preuss is "ready and raring to go" as he looks to make his Giants debut in 2022.

After joining the Harbour City side ahead of last year, the 26-year-old endured a luckless run of injuries that kept him sidelined for the entire season.

A shoulder injury in February placed Preuss out of action for an extended period before suffering a pectoral injury that curtailed his 2021 campaign.

Seen as their likely first-string ruckman in his maiden year with the Giants, Preuss' absence forced senior coach Leon Cameron to experiment with his ruck stocks, handing Matthew Flynn and Kieren Briggs their AFL debuts.

More here
https://www.zerohanger.com/gws-ruckman-fit-and-firing-ahead-of-highly-anticipated-season-96448/
Should be a bit of competition for the top ruck spot this year, think it's likely we see all 3 guys get lots of ruck time throughout the season.
 

Hendo_21

Club Legend
Aug 14, 2021
1,928
2,756
AFL Club
GWS
Wouldn't mind seeing Perryman pushed up the ground a bit more, would be helpful to have another good ball user forward of centre to help deliver inside 50 and kick a few goals himself. Think Perryman's best ability is his versatility so moving him around from HF, wing and HB depending on what we need on a week to week basis could provide a different look for us. The way Ash is talked about in this article he seems to be suggesting that Ash is best inside, not sure I entirely agree with that, think on the wing or half back he looks best and probably where he's needed more then being an inside midfielder. Good to see some Tom Green love and thought all of the chat around Cogs was pretty fair.
 
Nov 23, 2015
11,654
17,071
AFL Club
GWS
Yep, love the Mongrel Punt, they are usually logical, considered and well-written articles (and this is no different).

If we can get several of our guys to have best years (or close to it) all at once (think Cogs back to form, Green & Ash breaking out, Cumming/Idun/Daniels continuing to develop, Greene/Kelly/Hopper/Whitfield/Haynes all near their best, and one of the tall forwards standing up) then we would be able to give the flag a red hot shake.
 
Apr 12, 2012
45,989
41,667
AFL Club
GWS

Footy is rarely dull in the Harbour City.
But it’s been particularly dramatic the past two years, with the Giants and Swans spending the second half of last season interstate because of the Covid-19 pandemic.

Leon Cameron’s Giants defied that, plus form and injury woes, to book an against-the-odds finals berth and scored a nailbiting win over the Swans once they got there.
There was also major captaincy news since the season ended, and Cameron discusses it all one-on-one with Marc McGowan.


You’ve had a few months to dissect last season. After a very rocky start and some serious bumps in the road, was it a success to make finals and win one, especially over the Swans?

A bit of both. We got to the finals, we won a final, which is great, but the week you get beaten by Geelong, you’re disappointed because you lost. But, look, we made some ground. We had a rough start with some form and injury issues, but I thought towards the backend of the year, we played a brand of footy that was far more consistent. We were up and down a fair bit in that first half of the year, but we got more consistency towards the backend. We all start on the same line (in 2022) and nothing counts for nothing in the end, because it’s a new season.

You were still able to work and do what you love last year, but did everyone underestimate how difficult it was for the Giants and Swans, being on the road for almost three months?

Well, that’s for people to judge. I’m a pretty optimistic sort of a person. Whether you’re week-to-week travelling or not, every year there are going to be challenges. You don’t want to be doing that every year, because it’s not right, but we spent some really good time together. There were challenges because of family, no doubt. Everyone would have had some moments sitting in their hotel room – three or four weeks on the road and then missing family, friends, whatever that may be. But there would have been just as many up moments as down. We got to review games together, train together and eat together. We found a really good balance in doing that. Those last-minute changes were the hardest thing.
We talked a lot about the Giants being a young group last season, but now those same players are a year older and have some finals experience, are the expectations higher?

I’m not into making bold statements. I don’t come out and say, ‘We’re going to do this, this year’, because we know that the competition is so even, it’s on a knife’s edge. You make one wrong move for one weekend and it can cost you a spot in the finals. Hats off to Melbourne and the Bulldogs – they were the two breakaway sides – but it’s such an even competition. We come into every year saying we want to play finals footy and we want to be really hard to play against. We thought we were really hard to play against in the back half of the year, in a more consistent manner. We’re chasing premierships like everyone else. Are we ready to do that? I can’t tell you, because we’re still a young group. But what I will tell you, is that we’re a very enthusiastic group. It’s a totally different list from three years ago, when we played in a grand final. The capabilities of this group over the next two to three years are really, really exciting.

You’ve spoken about how the captaincy took a toll on Cogs How will he fare in the new captaincy set-up and what impact will it have on him, as well as Toby Greene and Josh Kelly?

The hardest thing for Stephen was he couldn’t play a lot last year, because of injury. Any captain or leader of a footy club wants to go and show what he can do on the field, which is his main play. Then when he did come back in; clearly he wasn’t 100 per cent fit. He’s had a faultless pre-season. We’re really rapt with the way he’s progressing. He hasn’t had that for a few years. That added pressure as the sole captain that’s been on his shoulders over the last couple of years is probably going to release a little bit, having Toby and Josh beside him.

Having three captains was a big decision, but I think the three of them are all different and unique, so there are going to be challenges, because they’ll challenge each other. If they all thought the same, then you could say that would be easier, but then you’re not making progress. They’ve had really good pre-seasons and they want to let their footy do the talking, but they know they’ve got a greater responsibility to make sure their cohesion as three captains is spot on among the entire group, so they can lead from the front.

You and I spoke leading into the semi-final about Toby Greene’s incident with umpire Matt Stevic. You mentioned this one was different to his other transgressions and that he had to learn from this one. How will you know if he’s learned?

You can’t know until you actually jump into the future. It’s like trying to judge how you’re going to go in 2022. There’s been a whole lot of learnings from it. I did say that Toby has to learn from this, because Toby cannot find himself in this situation again. Period. Because of two things: one is we know the ramifications of what happened. But two, he’s not playing the first five weeks of the year, on the back of this.

Having one of our best players out in the first five weeks is disappointing and he feels that, so he knows that he’s overstepped the mark. But once we addressed it, we’ve moved on. We’ve hit a whole new, fresh pre-season. He’s in unbelievably good shape. We’re expecting him to knuckle down when he resumes play in Round 6 and learn from the mistakes he’s made. And we all know, this one was a bigger mistake than some of the other ones he’s had.

But he’s a bloody really good person who’s not perfect. I’m not perfect and I’ve supported him so much and I‘ll continue to support him, because I love what he stands for, for our footy club. He also knows he put himself in the wrong situation at the end of last year.
You did factor the Toby Greene situation into your thinking in last year’s trade period and you were hkeen on Hawks Chad Wingard and Luke Breust. How do you look back at that now, and are you confident enough with your forward line, knowing those bids didn’t come off?

Yeah, we did – but it wasn’t just about the short term. There was talk about some deals and our list management committee were looking at that as well. It’s always really good discussion before, during and after the trade period. There are always stories that will come out and we’re always looking at how we can add value to our list, but that didn’t happen. So, we were really keen to go back to the draft and that’s what we did. We brought in four young kids and Jarrod Brander, who is looking for that second opportunity as a forward from the Eagles. He’s presenting himself really well. He can run, he’s got a good fitness base and he wants to show that he can play one of those spots.

People sometimes tend to forget we missed Brent Daniels for a large period of last year and he’s been an integral part of our team since he arrived. And Bobby Hill, there were some challenges over that trade period. But, he’s got himself in the best shape that he possibly could. We actually haven’t seen Daniels and Hill together for a good chunk, so there is this great opportunity to start the year with Toby not being there.

You mentioned the word challenging with Bobby. It almost became a little bit ugly at times and he wanted to get to Essendon but you stood your ground, because he is contracted. How has that situation progressed and do you think he will try again this year?

Look, in all trade periods, there is a player who wants to be traded or a club wants to trade a player and it doesn’t go through. It’s the initial what happens after that matters and it’s been really positive. There were some challenging conversations but Bobby was contracted and he’s got a lot going on his life. He’s become a father, which we’re absolutely rapt with, for him and Georgia. We love what he can do and feel he’s just starting to scratch the surface. He’s progressing every year he does a pre-season with us and the relationship’s really strong.

Having good, honest conversations after some awkward moments is what good clubs do, and that’s what we did. We speak regularly and he spent the entire summer up until Christmas – until the birth of his child with Georgia – in Perth, training with Matty de Boer. Now he’s back on deck and training at a really good, high standard, looking to launch himself into 2022.

You re-signed for two years in September 2020, so that deal expires at the end of this season. Have negotiations started and is it something you’d like to, ideally, get locked away early?

Contracts are interesting because there’s so much, especially with a senior coach. The answer is, yes, we’ve started to have some dialogue about what that looks like and where that leads to, whether that’s before or during the season. It’s two parties making a decision on each other. I’m coming into my ninth year and I love coaching the footy club. I feel as though I’m progressing as a coach.

Clearly, I’ve got things to work on, like everyone, but I feel as though I add value to our footy club and the club adds value to me, so contracts are a two-way street. You work out, ‘Can that two-way street progress’ and I’d like to think so. But it’s like anything with all these questions we ask – the proof is in the pudding. Someone’s got to be happy with the way I’m coaching and I’ve got to be happy with the way the club’s progressing. But we’re having some really good dialogue, we’re very open – it’s not as if we’re closing up – and we’ll keep people abreast on how we’re progressing.

On the field, we saw the Sydney Derby final and we know you’ll meet again in Round 1. But what is the health of the game like in general in NSW?

It’s definitely coming on in leaps and bounds. For us to have 30,000 members and the Swans to have 60,000 is really exciting, and women’s footy, with the Giants women’s team, is strong. The Swans women’s team is coming in at the end of 2022.

So, footy in general in NSW is starting to become more and more popular. We’ve just now got to have the opportunity to play more, because of the Covid challenges. Having milestone games or big drawing games like our Round 1 game against the Swans is a great idea, because clearly us and the Swans were affected the most, being on the road for the last 11, 12 weeks.

We didn’t have any footy in New South Wales (in that time), so having a big crowd at Accor Stadium, out here at Sydney Olympic Park, is great and no doubt a big ticket item will be ‘Buddy’ (Lance Franklin) and whether he can kick his 1000th goal. Hopefully, he can’t and Sammy Taylor or Phil Davis can stop that, but if you get a crowd of 50,000 people – Swans and Giants supporters – it just shows the game is in good shape. Even though we’ve been through a rocky 18 months, I think the game in NSW will come out even better.
 
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