GWS expect to be in premiership calculations in 2019 despite imminent loss of Dylan Shiel and Rory Lobb
DESPITE the likely departures of Dylan Shiel, Rory Lobb, Will Setterfield and Jeremy Finlayson during the trade period, GWS is adament it doesn’t mean the club’s opportunity to win a premiership with this list has gone.
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GREATER Western Sydney football boss Wayne Campbell denies the Giants’ premiership window is closing despite four of their players looking to jump ship in the AFL trade window.
With Dylan Shiel requesting a move to Essendon, Rory Lobb Fremantle bound and Will Setterfield eyeing a move to Carlton, as well as Jeremy Finlayson also believed to be on the trade table, the Giants’ roster is facing a significant shake-up.
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That’s set to continue next year with Josh Kelly, Stephen Coniglio, Jacob Hopper and Nick Haynes all off contract at the end of 2019 and sure to attract the attention of rival clubs.
But Campbell is backing the club’s culture to keep their stars in Sydney.
“Our best 22 next year will be very competitive,” Campbell told The Daily Telegraph.
“Over the last three years we’ve probably won as many games as anybody. What you have to do is give yourself a chance. We didn’t really do that this year because we didn’t finish top four.
“Our job is to create a good environment where players want to stay. They would be happy to play and stay next year but we were happy to have conversations about exploring your options and now is the time to do it.”
Campbell says the challenges the Giants face in building a club from scratch and keeping their rich crop of talent together is something the game has never seen before.
“It’s a unique situation our club finds itself in,” Campbell said.
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“We are seven years old and we have been built in a way which is very unusual. We’ve got a lot of talent coming through which is at it’s peak for playing and for earning power.
“We brought in players like Shane Mumford, Heath Shaw, Steve Johnson, Brett Deledio and Ryan Griffen to top up with experience. The people before me made some very good decisions. It’s put us in contention, we haven’t won the premiership but just because you don’t doesn’t mean you fail or that it ends now.”
Campbell says the key to keeping the group of stars together is bringing in new talent and staying in contention.
“We have been able to replenish along the way,” Campbell said.
“The last two drafts we’ve had Tim Taranto, Aidan Bonar, Zac Langdon, Sam Taylor, Brent Daniels and Harry Perryman all come and have an impact.
“We still have the other very talented group of Callan Ward, Phil Davis, Josh Kelly, Jacob Hopper, Harry Himmelberg, Jeremy Cameron and Toby Greene. In an ideal world we wouldn’t have Dylan Shiel and Rory Lobb going out the door now, they are contracted and in our best 22 but the reality of the market having a salary cap means we just have to let them go.”