Ins – Joseph Fonti, Phoenix Gothard, James Leake, Harvey Thomas, Nathan Wardius
Outs – Phil Davis, Cameron Fleeton, Matt Flynn, Jason Gillbee, Daniel lloyd
My Prediction
The Giants were the big surprise for me last season. I picked them to finish bottom four but the new coach who it looks like replaced a barely competent former coach made a big difference. They played attractive football and were well led both by coach and captain. It will be interesting to see if they can improve or if last season was their ceiling.
The backline is solid if not remarkable. They have Taylor and Himmelberg as the twin talls with Idun providing support. Whitfield and Ash give very good delivery from the half back line. They set up a lot through half back and get run going through the middle. Their ball movement was a big improvement last year.
The midfield is top heavy but has plenty of talent. Josh Kelly started to find room again last season and we saw Green and Ward getting the ball out of the centre. The other Greene injected himself into the midfield at important times and was able to swing momentum. Cummings and Perryman are both good users and even Coniglio looked like he found his feet again last season even if there is still plenty of room for improvement.
The forward line is patchy and still feels like it relies on too few to do too much too often. Hogan has been an astute pick up, he isn’t fulfilling the promise we saw 10 years ago but he is a reliable contributor. They will be looking for Cadman to try and hold down a spot this year after reaching and paying way too much for him last year. Bedford has been a good pick up and Greene is the best forward in the competition.
The ruck sort of came out of the blue with Briggs stepping up and taking ownership of the position above more fancied players. He looks a quality player and will be interesting to see how he holds up this year after other teams start to do some homework on him. The coach did a good job last year and has the players adopting his style very quickly. More importantly he has managed to stay absolutely jacked.
It is hard not to respect what they did last year. First season with a new coach and a new system and the didn’t just make finals but looked threatening the whole time. They were very unlucky not to make the grand final. Can they repeat it this year. Probably not but I wont be predicting a slide down the ladder again. I think they finish in the bottom half of the eight again. 6-8 for mine.
Best team in the AFL for mine, would have won the flag if not for biased umpiring against the pies in the last quarter.
It will be hard to back up two years in a row because they didn’t add any mature talent which is a mistake, but if they roll on from last year definitely a top 4 team. People forget it took them a while to get motoring last year, they won’t get that poor start again.
You’ve really undersold their backline IMO by calling it “solid if not remarkable”. It is absolutely elite and close to being the best and most balanced defensive group in the comp.
Sam Taylor - The best key defender in the league Jack Buckley - Emerged last year as a wonderful stopper who stymied the output of nearly every tall forward he played on Harry Himmelberg - Versatile, great size, good aerialist Connor Idun - If he was playing for a Victorian club or a high profile interstate club he’d be lauded as a genuine star of the comp. He’s brave, can play tall or small and is a terrific athlete. Lachie Whitfield - Say no more, provides rebound and deadly footskills to a standard that very few halfbacks in the game can match. Class. Lachie Ash - Super fast, takes the game on, great user of the footy. Harry Perryman - Yet another top class kick of the footy and a rugged, reliable player.
And also, in the discussion about their midfield you neglected to speak about the guy who is poised to be one of the best mids in the comp very soon in Finn Callaghan.
Hate to say it but I also think they will win it. Was no fluke almost getting to a grand final. Kingsley a ■■■■■■■ good coach and their recruitment is fantastic. wish our mob showed as much heart and determination as them
I’m not as gung-ho on them as others. Maybe I’m underestimating their run to the Prelims from 7th. They may improve from a win-loss/H&A ladder position perspective but might not make it to the penultimate weekend of the season. I’d want to see them start the season well before I’m convinced. I’d have them in that ruck of teams competing for a spot in the bottom half of the 8.
And yet it won"t be the most unbelievable thing that Preuss has been involved with.
No, that honour will always be that time he thought to himself “I’m a bit frustrated sitting behind Goldstein at Norf. I need to go to a club that needs a ruckman and where my services can be best utilised. I know… I’ll go to Melbourne”.
The Melbourne recruiting team sold him a lemon by telling him he was going to play alongside Gawn in the seniors. He was just dumb enough to beleive them.