The GWS Giants are grappling with issues on multiple fronts, still uncertain about the future of Toby Greene, possibly losing defensive pair Lachie Whitfield and Harry Himmelberg, and struggling to find assistant coaches to help Adam Kingsley.
It is looming as a critical time in the history of the club as it looks to rebuild the list after a disappointing year where they failed to make the top 10.
They have already delisted experienced trio Kieren Briggs, Jesse Hogan and Jake Stringer, and with so many things in the air, Channel 7’s Tom Morris said there were also “growing frustrations” with Greene as he wrestled with staying or making a move to Geelong.
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While there’s no official deadline on Greene, Morris said the Giants were eager for an answer.
“They’ve got lots of planning to do. They’ve got lots of balls in the air. And they still don’t know what their captain is going to be doing next year, playing for the Giants or playing for Geelong,” Morris said on Channel 7’s The Agenda Setters.
On top of everything else, they have a new CEO at the helm, with James Avery taking over from the affable Dave Matthews.
7NEWS chief AFL reporter Mitch Cleary said Greene had made it clear he wanted the Giants to be consistently playing top-four footy.
“So they’ve got (star midfielder) Tom Green on the books for at least one more year. Finn Callaghan, Sam Taylor, Clayton Oliver had a really good season. Then look at some of the cons. So the new CEO James Avery, no knock on him, but Toby had an incredibly close relationship with Dave Matthews, the outgoing CEO,” Cleary said.
“(They are a) smaller club, the Cats are pushing the bigger networking opportunities that come in Victoria. The Cats offer is slightly bigger, and then the experience.
“Does he think they can play top-four footy without Stringer Hogan, a genuine ruckman in Briggs, and then we learned this week Whitfield and Himmelberg potentially on the move.”
Cleary called it a transitional phase.
“They’ve gone to the well so many times with Toby, Hogan, Stringer, and these guys, and they’re looking at it (and thinking) it’s the time for the new wave to take the keys of this footy club. Idun, Callaghan, these guys to really take hold,” Cleary said
And Morris said it was a risky move.
“They hope it’ll bounce, but the risk is they’ll get stuck, and then the whole club will become a disaster zone because they won’t play finals in the next few years, and that will affect the rest of football in Western Sydney as well … which has been an issue for the best part of a decade,” Morris said.
AFL great Nick Riewoldt called it a worrying situation.
“The Giants were established to carry the AFL into the future …,” he said.
“The one thing that the AFL haven’t had to contend with is the Giants being irrelevant from a from a finals and premiership point of view. They’ve been relevant in those discussions for probably the best part of a decade now.
“But if that changes, with all the challenges geographically they got up there, you could make an argument that the Giants could become one of the biggest strategic issues that the AFL have.
“Not because they’re a bad club; they’re they’re a good club and they’ve got good people. But if they’re not as relevant as they have been, I’d be nervous if I was the AFL.”
Toby’s pros and cons. Credit: Seven
Riewoldt also said he understood why the Giants were becoming frustrated with Greene.
“I can understand it from Toby’s point of view, because he’s making a decision and he’s been outward in the reasons why, around family, but also about the prospect of winning a premiership and being successful … and he wants to be successful,” Riewoldt said.
“So to have all of the information is critical in making that decision. And I’m assuming, given the links to Geelong that we’ve heard about, a Zak Butters decision was a part of that, and I’m guessing a (St Kilda’s) Rowan Marshall decision.
“So you want all of the information … but from a Giants perspective, if I’m a teammate or I’m a coach or I’m part of a list management, ongoing discussion and strategy, I want to know.
“Because this now, I reckon we’ve reached the horizon of decision (time). And any longer, it starts to chip away — particularly because you’re the captain — on how much you believe in the group.
“I don’t think it’s selfish. But I think walking back in, the longer it goes, if I’m a teammate, it says to me, the more doubt you have in our ability.”
The Agenda Setters also revealed on Wednesday night that Whitfield had recently played golf with Carlton players Ollie Hollands and Nick Haynes, the latter a former Giant.
“Free agency starts in 16 days, but it feels like Toby’s waiting to see what the Giants do, rather than him make a decision and then leverage off the back of that,” Cleary said.
“Because the Giants have a lot of balls in the areas, other areas in terms of attracting players. So they need a decision from Toby now to try and help them lure other players to the club because he’s the biggest carrot to try and go to market.”
Morris said the other element causing concern was the fact that they had not been able to attract assistant coaches.
“They’ve got a couple of vacancies. They’re offering, let’s say, $200,000 to senior assistant coaches to move their families to Sydney and be an assistant under Adam Kingsley, and they’re having so much trouble that they’ve had to contact the Coaches’ Association to ask for help to see who they can find.
“Like this is an issue for the competition as well.”
Morris said the issue wasn’t the club but the cost of living.
“It’s an issue for the club. Like Adam Kingsley needs a good coaching team around him.”
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