I made this post before their 2016 preliminary. Would be interesting to update it now. For both teams. Warning it's an essay.
Maybe cos I'm slightly invested in them but I've really enjoyed watching the Giants play, they play an awesome brand of footy which beat the Swans not only with tough contested footy but also awesome outside run and skill.
Also been super interesting watching them build their current side.
Here's the 22 they sent out on the weekend
FB: Shaw (trade: Adams), Davis (startup player, originally Pick 10), Haynes (Pick 7, 2011)
CHB: Patful (FA), Tomlinson (Pick 9, 2011), Williams (Pick 54, Rookie Draft 2013)
C: Scully (startup player, originally Pick 1), Ward (startup player, originally Pick 14), Kelly (Pick 2, 2013)
CHF: Greene (Pick 11, 2011), Lobb (Pick 29, 2013), Cameron (17yo concession pick)
FF: Johnson (DFA), Patton (Pick 1, 2011), Smith (Pick 14, 2011)
R: Mumford (trade: Pick 30ish), Griffen (trade: Boyd), Coniglio (Pick 2, 2011)
I: Hopper (Pick 7, 2015), Shiel (17yo concession pick), Whitfield (Pick 1, 2012), Wilson (17yo concession pick)
Shaw, Davis, Patful, Scully, Ward, Johnson, Mumford, Griffin all attained through smart trading and start up concessions similar to other new clubs. That's more than 1/3 of their side. 8/22
They nailed 2011 - Patton (1), Coniglio (2), Haynes (7), Tomlinson (9), Greene (11), Smith (14) all playing. More than a quarter of their side. Interesting to note that Greene was seen as a bit of a spud til this year, Tomlinson only broke into the side recently and was seen as trade bait for the last few years and Patton has had a wretched run with two ACL's. Note: the picks they acquired from the mini draft (4) and (10) resulted in WHE and Sumner. Both of which could be gone for not much at the end of this season. Tyson (3), Adams (13) are gone (and promptly upgraded with Kelly and Shaw), Buntine (5) and WHE (4) are currently not best 22. And they missed out on Wingard (6) and Docherty (12). 6/22
The 2012 draft is not great reading for GWS - Whitfield (1), O'Rourke (2), Plowman (3), Jaksch (12), Corr (14). Lachie probably had his best game on the weekend but has been a slow burn. JOR gone (pick 19 2014), Plowman gone (managed Pick 8 2015 in a complex trade), Jaksch traded with some trash for Pick 7! They also took Stewart at 27 who has been reserves level for the most part. Only Whitfield played from this draft. Oops, just to be a bitch they stole Williams at Pick 54 in the rookie draft. One of the few rookies that has made it for them. 2/22
2013 was short but sweet - Boyd, Kelly, McCarthy, Lobb. Massive winners in the Boyd trade netting Griffin and Pick 6 (Marchbank who will continue the trade...) And nailed the rest of their picks with Kelly and Lobb becoming integral parts of their current campaign. McCarthy undoubtedly would be as well if not for the onset of depression. 2/22
Leaving 4 players - three of them startup concession players in Shiel, Cameron and Wilson - undoubtedly lucky and nailed all of them. Comparatively the Suns did not do as well ending up with Rory Thompson, Zac Smith, Mav Weller, Josh Toy, Tom Nicholls and Trent McKenzie amongst a number of nobodies. Treloar counts as one of these however he has now moved on. Helping them acquire the final player out there - Jacob Hopper. Who has managed to nail a spot in a preliminary side in his first season. Gun.
That was fun. So all up:
8 players taken from other clubs (stolen, traded, FA)
3 starters taken as 17yo's
11 drafted directly
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- Pick 1, 2, 7, 9, 11, 14 in 2011
- Pick 1 and RD 54 in 2012
- Pick 2 and 29 in 2013
- Pick 7 in 2015
Let's say we get Steele and Marchbank this year for Pick 10 (unlikely but it makes the comparison better for us) . Dempster and Fisher retire.
Best 18 in 2017:
FB: Geary (Rookie 2006) Goddard (Pick 21 2014) Gilbert (Pick 33 2005)
CHB: Savage (trade) Carlisle (Pick 22 2009) Marchbank (Pick 6 2014)
C: Newnes (Pick 37 2011) Dunstan (Pick 18 2013) Armitage (Pick 9 2006)
CHF: Membrey (DFA) Bruce (trade, original zone pick) Riewoldt (Pick 1 2000)
FF: Billings (Pick 3 2013) McCartin (Pick 1 2014) Freeman (Pick 10 2013)
R: Hickey/Longer (concession/Pick 8 2011) Steven (Pick 42 2007) Ross (Pick 25 2012)
I: McKenzie (Pick 22 2014) Acres (Pick 19 2013) Gresham (Pick 18 2015) Steele (Pick 16 2014)
I put that side together with draft picks in mind as that seems to be the standard with comparisons to GWS.
Draft picks any further back than 2010 are extremely irrelevant. Even that far back is pushing it. But for the sake of this post - I'll keep em. Plus GWS first draft 2011 lines up nicely with the start of our rebuild and bringing in Ross, Newnes, Webster and Longer (kinda).
- Pick 8, 25, 37 in 2011
- Pick 3, 10, 18, 19 in 2013
- Pick 1, 6, 16, 21, 22 in 2014
- Pick 18 in 2015.
On draft pick alone it's not the worst comparison. Difference being the quality their first round picks being much higher than ours (9 picks under 14 compared to our 6 under 16). And their big draft haul coming 2 years before our first real rebuilding year (2011 compared to 2013) which means their players are maturing now (evident with Patton, Coniglio, Smith, Haynes all playing huge roles for the Giants).
On best 22 alone, we and other teams may be able to go close to matching them, but it's their depth which is scary as all fu**.
Not playing yesterday were:
Ahern (Pick 6), Pickett (4), Kennedy (13), Buntine (5), McCarthy (14), Himmelberg (16), WHE (4), Marchbank (6), Corr (14), Stewart (27) which itself almost matches our top picks.
At the very least it looks plausible that they could lose WHE, Marchbank, Steele with Stewart, Corr and McCarthy probably not worth much anymore.
Still with the picks they have in hand this year and the picks they could continue to build in future years it's an imposing outlook. They can only field 22 players, however they could potentially lose 4-5 best 22 and be able to replace them with ready to go players of equal talent. That's where the real difference is and in a 26 week season it can and will make a big difference.
Anwyay why be afraid of something which hasn't happened yet- and if it does, well s**t, we've seen three of the best teams ever completely dominate for 4+ years in the past decade. Why are we so afraid of this one? Maybe cos we can see it coming...
