Gary Buckenara analyses Greater Western Sydney’s list after the 2020 season
Remember when the Gold Coast was a wasteland, where every man and his dog wanted to leave? We might not have noticed, because they’ve been able to play finals, but Gary Buckenara says the Giants are headed down the same path.
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Greater Western Sydney is suffering from ‘Spoiled Child Syndrome’. It’s all about individuals over the team and their poor season this year has exposed the problem.
As the old saying goes: A champion team will always beat a team of individual champions and this is the case at the Giants. There appears to be an underlying selfishness within the playing group, which is what separates the good teams from the great ones.
But there are bigger issues. GWS has a major player retention problem and have been quietly going down the same path as Gold Coast without anyone noticing because they’ve still played finals – until now.
In the last five years the following players (still on AFL lists) have left – Adam Treloar, Jack Steele, Will Hoskin-Elliott and Caleb Marchbank (all 2016), Devon Smith and Nathan Wilson (2017), Dylan Shiel, Rory Lobb and Tom Scully (2018), Adam Tomlinson and Jon Patton (2019), while Jeremy Cameron, Zac Williams and Aidan Corr are the established players leaving this year. Cameron’s departure is a disaster.
It doesn’t end there. Many excuse these departures because GWS has been able to orchestrate trade deals to receive, in some cases, two first-round draft picks. But now the players they selected with those picks also want out.
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Jackson Hately(pick 14 in the 2018 draft) and Jye Caldwell (pick 11, 2018) are the next players in a long list after requesting a trade to Adelaide and Essendon respectively. Last year Aiden Bonar (pick 11, 2017) left, the year before Will Setterfield (pick 5, 2016 and from their academy!) and Matt Kennedy (pick 13 in 2015 also from the academy) in 2016.
That’s 19 players still in the AFL system that have left the Giants. It’s nearly a whole starting team. It’s a serious problem and one the club must act immediately to fix because continuing to trade out stars for first-round picks is no way to build a premiership-winning list, especially if the players drafted with those picks also depart a few years later.
GWS coach Leon Cameron, chief executive David Matthews and the board must build a culture where players see a future at the club and where there’s a team-first and selfless attitude with a hunger for on-field success. It starts from the top and filters down. That will assist the list management team, which needs to better manage the Total Player Payments (TPP), where players are willing to accept less money to stay because they see the opportunity to win premierships, similar to how Geelong have operated.
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The Giants’ list is in good shape on paper, with 12 A and B-ranked players and eight players aged 21 or under with the potential to become A or B-graders (excluding the players set to depart) but if they can’t keep the group together, they’ll keep threatening but won’t win a premiership.
GWS must snap out of being happy to continue this player merry-go-round and get serious. It’s no way to manage a list and definitely no way to win a flag.
LIST NEEDS
It’s time to draw a line in the sand. Keep the required players and make it harder for players to leave the club.
Did the Grand Final loss break their spirit? It should have built a strong resolve and driven the players harder to make amends but it didn’t. The Giants must rethink the strategies that were in place by reviewing all areas of the football department and the playing list to find answers quickly and implement a plan to build and develop a list of selfless and club-committed players.
The biggest list weakness is obviously the lack of ruck stocks.
TRADE TARGETS
With Cameron’s departure, the Giants need to get into the Ben Brown market to replace him. His lead-up style will suit their game style because they like to move the ball quickly. Jesse Hogan would also be a good fit but would he want to move to Sydney? It’s worth having the conversation.
Braydon Preuss has requested a trade to GWS, which will give them the ruckman they so desperately need but is he really capable of being a No.1 ruckman? I’d still have a crack at restricted free agent Stefan Martin. Brisbane is yet to offer him a new contract and while he’s 34, why not bring him in for a year if the Giants still believe they can win the premiership in 2021.
I’d also be making a phone call to Todd Goldstein and his manager to make sure there’s definitely no interest in leaving North Melbourne. Goldstein has said he wants to be a one-club player but make a compelling pitch to try and change his mind.
Isaac Smith would be a great fit. While he’d take some of the heat off Josh Kelly and Lachie Whitfield and help provide outside run, his biggest value would be his leadership and team-first attitude, which the Giants desperately need.
UNTOUCHABLES
Toby Greene, Josh Kelly, Jacob Hopper, Lachie Whitfield, Callan Ward, Phil Davis, Tim Taranto, Phil Davis, Harry Himmelberg, Nick Haynes, Stephen Coniglio, Matt de Boer, Jeremy Finlayson and Jake Riccardi.
TRADE BAIT
GWS should match the bid for Cameron and talk to Geelong about a trade. Ask for pick No.11 plus one of these players – Esava Ratugolea, Brandon Parfitt, Sam De Koning, Lachie Fogarty or Charlie Constable. If the Cats don’t agree to that deal, then tell Cameron – you either play for us or you take your in chances in the pre-season draft. It’s time to make a stand.
RATING THE LIST
A-Grade: Toby Greene, Hopper, Kelly, Whitfield
B: Cameron, Coniglio, Corr, Davis, de Boer, Finlayson, Haynes, Himmelberg, Taranto, Ward, Williams
C: Buckley, Buntine, Cumming, Flynn, Hutchesson, Keeffe, Kennedy, Langdon, Lloyd, Mumford, Reid
*Developing (with A-B grade potential): Ash, Caldwell, Daniels, Tom Green, Hately, Hill, O’Halloran, Perryman, Riccardi, Taylor
Developing: Briggs, Brown, Idun, Shipley, Sproule, Stein
What the ratings mean:
A-grade: Elite player on any AFL list
B: Top 10-18 player on most lists
C: An 18-30 player on a list
Developing: Aged 21 or under
CRYSTAL BALL
With such a talented list, GWS should be challenging for a premiership but a champion team will always beat a team of individual champions. Leon Cameron must find a way to transform this team into one that plays for each other and the club rather than the club being there to serve the players. The Giants have ‘Spoiled Child Syndrome’ – it’s all about ‘me’ and ‘what do I get’. With more luck with injuries, the Giants should play finals next year as a minimum. The current list is good enough to finish top four and be a premiership contender even without Williams and Cameron, but it does make it harder to be a genuine flag contender when good players keep leaving. It’s time to act now and fix the culture and list management problems or GWS will keep underachieving.
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Originally published as Gary Buckenara analyses Greater Western Sydney’s list after the 2020 season