Thought you'd want to check out our new site's 2015 season preview for the Giants.
Genuinely after the thoughts of GWS fans and interested in feedback, as well as what the realistic aims for the season from you guys are.
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 let the author know I've posted it here so he can respectively engage, and if you want to see the version on the site you can by clicking here.
2015 season preview: Greater Western Sydney
By Andrew Lowcock
LAST CAMPAIGN
After two years being coached by a geriatric circus spruiker, the appointment of an actual football coach – and the development of the club’s naturally talented youngsters – saw Greater Western Sydney make great strides in 2014; the Giants lifted their win tally from one in 2013 to six last year on their way to finishing 16th.
The Giants’ year was bookended by the most impressive performances of their short existence: a round one triumph over an underdone but still classy Sydney outfit at a stormy Sydney Showgrounds, and a Round 23 win over the Western Bulldogs at Docklands with a significantly understrength team, in a performance that screamed ‘coming of age’.
GWS still took their share of knocks (back-to-back 100-point losses at the hands of West Coast and Richmond), which was to be expected with the youngest average list in the league, but their thumpings became rarer, and much was gained from narrow losses to Hawthorn, Essendon and Geelong. The Giants were, for the first time, not just feared for their long-term potential, but for their immediate threat as well.
Shane Mumford proved to be a brilliant addition from across town, with the ruckman claiming the Giants’ best and fairest award ahead of Callan Ward and Devon Smith. The club suffered a savage blow late in the season with Jonathon Patton injuring his knee for the second time, requiring more reconstructive surgery that will rule him out for most of 2015.
I KNOW WHAT YOU DID LAST SUMMER
To borrow a phrase from a foreign sport, GWS knocked it out of the park during the off-season, despite trading six players to other clubs – they managed to acquire an elite midfielder in his prime and utilise three more top 10 draft picks.
The most stunning move, of course, was the trade of 2013 number one pick Tom Boyd to the Western Bulldogs Bulldogs, which in return garnered pick six and Dogs captain Ryan Griffen. Despite being a veteran of 11 years, Griffen is undoubtedly a star capture and knows how to wear the attention of the opposition’s best tagger, all the while leading a young midfield.
An understated but just as valuable addition will be former Brisbane two-time best and fairest Joel Patfull. The Giants have struggled to field big, mature bodies in defence and the absence of Phil Davis for a large part of 2014 exposed this weakness further. Patfull has both the size to lock down on key forwards and the agility to take medium-sized threats as well.
While several other young fringe players left the club, only Sam Frost from these minor transactions could be considered a regular in 2014, and in return GWS grabbed another bounty of picks led by Western Australian speedster Jarrod Pickett (pick four), tall defender Caleb Marchbank (pick six) and midfielder Paul Ahern (pick seven). The challenge, as always, will be convincing their young guns to commit long term to the GWS project.
THE CHALLENGE
This season is the first GWS is not expected to be among the stragglers at the bottom of the ladder, and that in itself will be a new challenge for a young group.
The Giants will start favourites in their first two games against St Kilda and Melbourne, before the fixture toughens significantly with a Sydney derby, a trip to Perth to play the Eagles, and home games against their sparring partners from the Gold Coast and the two-time reigning premiers. Some significant progress during this period is sure to help GWS in their greatest ongoing challenge: convincing their young guns to commit long term to the club.
Thankfully for the Giants, this has started promisingly, with gun forward Jeremy Cameron and goal-kicking midfielder Devon Smith signing new deals before the season even starts.
THE COACH
Leon Cameron embarks on his second season in charge of the Giants and things only look up for the former Bulldogs and Hawthorn assistant. A second pre-season embedding his game plan should bring automatic improvement, but he will have a new task in managing expectations. GWS now has a large core of talented midfielders with three years of experience under their belts, but there may no longer be room for all of them in the senior team.
From a tactical perspective, Cameron’s main task is to improve a leaky Giants defence that, despite significant improvement, still conceded more than 100 points per game in 2014.
THE STAR
There has been no better and more consistent performer in the Giants’ three-year existence than co-captain Callan Ward, and he’s only just entering his prime – he turns 25 this April.
A contested ball magnet, Ward works both ways, averaging nearly six tackles a game in 2014 to go with his 25 disposals, six-and-a-half clearances and three inside 50s. Ward will only benefit from the addition of his former Bulldogs teammate Ryan Griffen, which will likely free Ward from the responsibility of beating the opposition’s main tagger.
ON THE RISE
Rarely has a number one draft pick had such a low profile than Lachie Whitfield, who enters his third season after foot and shoulder injuries restricted him to 11 games in 2014. Nevertheless, Whitfield showed enough in those games to suggest his development is exactly on track, averaging 20 disposals and nearly a goal a game.
His only issue will be playing catch up after that shoulder operation which ended his 2014 season prematurely and caused him to miss the start of this pre-season. But Whitfield’s recent NAB Challenge appearances indicate the smooth mover will hit the ground running in 2015.
IN THE GUN
With Tom Boyd back in Melbourne and Jonathon Patton rehabilitating after a second knee reconstruction, Jeremy Cameron needs some help up forward. James Stewart and Cam McCarthy are raw talents but still developing, so Adam Tomlinson will be needed to assume more goal-kicking responsibility and possibly play closer to goal than he has in past seasons. Blessed with huge aerobic capacity, Tomlinson can run his opponents up and down the ground – now it’s time to turn that advantage into direct scoreboard impact.
BEST 22
B: Tomas Bugg – Phil Davis – Nick Haynes
HB: Heath Shaw – Joel Patfull – Adam Kennedy
C: Dylan Shiel – Callan Ward – Adam Treloar
HF: Stephen Coniglio – Adam Tomlinson – Devon Smith
F: Will Hoskin-Elliott – Jeremy Cameron – James Stewart
FOLL: Shane Mumford – Ryan Griffen – Toby Greene
INT: Joshua Kelly – Lachie Whitfield – Tom Scully – Rhys Palmer
Note: Jonathon Patton not considered due to recovery from knee surgery
THE VERDICT
More experience and increased strength surely means more wins for Greater Western Sydney in 2015. They’ve added a premier midfielder and an elite defender, the latter addressing their most immediate need, all while continuing to build for long-term success.
How far it takes them this year will depend on the Giants establishing more consistency and turning their home grounds into feared environments for opponents. It won’t be enough to take them into the finals this year, but it may bring them closer than many people think.
OUR PREDICTION
We have the Giants improving four places in 2015, up to 12th.
Genuinely after the thoughts of GWS fans and interested in feedback, as well as what the realistic aims for the season from you guys are.
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 let the author know I've posted it here so he can respectively engage, and if you want to see the version on the site you can by clicking here.
2015 season preview: Greater Western Sydney
By Andrew Lowcock
LAST CAMPAIGN
After two years being coached by a geriatric circus spruiker, the appointment of an actual football coach – and the development of the club’s naturally talented youngsters – saw Greater Western Sydney make great strides in 2014; the Giants lifted their win tally from one in 2013 to six last year on their way to finishing 16th.
The Giants’ year was bookended by the most impressive performances of their short existence: a round one triumph over an underdone but still classy Sydney outfit at a stormy Sydney Showgrounds, and a Round 23 win over the Western Bulldogs at Docklands with a significantly understrength team, in a performance that screamed ‘coming of age’.
GWS still took their share of knocks (back-to-back 100-point losses at the hands of West Coast and Richmond), which was to be expected with the youngest average list in the league, but their thumpings became rarer, and much was gained from narrow losses to Hawthorn, Essendon and Geelong. The Giants were, for the first time, not just feared for their long-term potential, but for their immediate threat as well.
Shane Mumford proved to be a brilliant addition from across town, with the ruckman claiming the Giants’ best and fairest award ahead of Callan Ward and Devon Smith. The club suffered a savage blow late in the season with Jonathon Patton injuring his knee for the second time, requiring more reconstructive surgery that will rule him out for most of 2015.
I KNOW WHAT YOU DID LAST SUMMER
To borrow a phrase from a foreign sport, GWS knocked it out of the park during the off-season, despite trading six players to other clubs – they managed to acquire an elite midfielder in his prime and utilise three more top 10 draft picks.
The most stunning move, of course, was the trade of 2013 number one pick Tom Boyd to the Western Bulldogs Bulldogs, which in return garnered pick six and Dogs captain Ryan Griffen. Despite being a veteran of 11 years, Griffen is undoubtedly a star capture and knows how to wear the attention of the opposition’s best tagger, all the while leading a young midfield.
An understated but just as valuable addition will be former Brisbane two-time best and fairest Joel Patfull. The Giants have struggled to field big, mature bodies in defence and the absence of Phil Davis for a large part of 2014 exposed this weakness further. Patfull has both the size to lock down on key forwards and the agility to take medium-sized threats as well.
While several other young fringe players left the club, only Sam Frost from these minor transactions could be considered a regular in 2014, and in return GWS grabbed another bounty of picks led by Western Australian speedster Jarrod Pickett (pick four), tall defender Caleb Marchbank (pick six) and midfielder Paul Ahern (pick seven). The challenge, as always, will be convincing their young guns to commit long term to the GWS project.
THE CHALLENGE
This season is the first GWS is not expected to be among the stragglers at the bottom of the ladder, and that in itself will be a new challenge for a young group.
The Giants will start favourites in their first two games against St Kilda and Melbourne, before the fixture toughens significantly with a Sydney derby, a trip to Perth to play the Eagles, and home games against their sparring partners from the Gold Coast and the two-time reigning premiers. Some significant progress during this period is sure to help GWS in their greatest ongoing challenge: convincing their young guns to commit long term to the club.
Thankfully for the Giants, this has started promisingly, with gun forward Jeremy Cameron and goal-kicking midfielder Devon Smith signing new deals before the season even starts.
THE COACH
Leon Cameron embarks on his second season in charge of the Giants and things only look up for the former Bulldogs and Hawthorn assistant. A second pre-season embedding his game plan should bring automatic improvement, but he will have a new task in managing expectations. GWS now has a large core of talented midfielders with three years of experience under their belts, but there may no longer be room for all of them in the senior team.
From a tactical perspective, Cameron’s main task is to improve a leaky Giants defence that, despite significant improvement, still conceded more than 100 points per game in 2014.
THE STAR
There has been no better and more consistent performer in the Giants’ three-year existence than co-captain Callan Ward, and he’s only just entering his prime – he turns 25 this April.
A contested ball magnet, Ward works both ways, averaging nearly six tackles a game in 2014 to go with his 25 disposals, six-and-a-half clearances and three inside 50s. Ward will only benefit from the addition of his former Bulldogs teammate Ryan Griffen, which will likely free Ward from the responsibility of beating the opposition’s main tagger.
ON THE RISE
Rarely has a number one draft pick had such a low profile than Lachie Whitfield, who enters his third season after foot and shoulder injuries restricted him to 11 games in 2014. Nevertheless, Whitfield showed enough in those games to suggest his development is exactly on track, averaging 20 disposals and nearly a goal a game.
His only issue will be playing catch up after that shoulder operation which ended his 2014 season prematurely and caused him to miss the start of this pre-season. But Whitfield’s recent NAB Challenge appearances indicate the smooth mover will hit the ground running in 2015.
IN THE GUN
With Tom Boyd back in Melbourne and Jonathon Patton rehabilitating after a second knee reconstruction, Jeremy Cameron needs some help up forward. James Stewart and Cam McCarthy are raw talents but still developing, so Adam Tomlinson will be needed to assume more goal-kicking responsibility and possibly play closer to goal than he has in past seasons. Blessed with huge aerobic capacity, Tomlinson can run his opponents up and down the ground – now it’s time to turn that advantage into direct scoreboard impact.
BEST 22
B: Tomas Bugg – Phil Davis – Nick Haynes
HB: Heath Shaw – Joel Patfull – Adam Kennedy
C: Dylan Shiel – Callan Ward – Adam Treloar
HF: Stephen Coniglio – Adam Tomlinson – Devon Smith
F: Will Hoskin-Elliott – Jeremy Cameron – James Stewart
FOLL: Shane Mumford – Ryan Griffen – Toby Greene
INT: Joshua Kelly – Lachie Whitfield – Tom Scully – Rhys Palmer
Note: Jonathon Patton not considered due to recovery from knee surgery
THE VERDICT
More experience and increased strength surely means more wins for Greater Western Sydney in 2015. They’ve added a premier midfielder and an elite defender, the latter addressing their most immediate need, all while continuing to build for long-term success.
How far it takes them this year will depend on the Giants establishing more consistency and turning their home grounds into feared environments for opponents. It won’t be enough to take them into the finals this year, but it may bring them closer than many people think.
OUR PREDICTION
We have the Giants improving four places in 2015, up to 12th.
