Former AFL coach Terry Wallace has questioned whether the GWS Giants have the ability to combine their wealth of young talent into a team that can win the 2018 premiership.
Wallace described the age demographic of the Giants list as “absolutely fantastic”, with key guns Dylan Shiel (24 years old), Josh Kelly (22), Tom Scully (26), Jeremy Cameron (24), Jon Patton (24), Toby Greene, Stephen Coniglio (23) and Lachie Whitfield (23) all in or entering the prime of their careers.
However after two losses in as many years to eventual premiers the Western Bulldogs and Richmond in preliminary finals, both of whom had much less fancied lists compared to the Giants, has Wallace asking questions of their true flag credentials.
“Are they a team or are they a bunch of absolutely brilliant footballers? Are they the Harlem Globetrotters or are they the Richmond football club?” queried the former Tigers and Dogs coach on SEN’s The Run Home.
“You look through the players in the Richmond premiership side, and you go back to the Bulldogs the year before, and it didn’t read like a who’s who. Some of them could have walked up Bourke Street three weeks before the Grand Final and no one would have known who they were.
“This side is a bunch of superstars, all flashy and have all the bells and whistles, but can they absolutely mould that into something that is real?
“They have got to get the team aspect of their football right. Their star factor will get them back there (to the top four) but whether they can win one, particularly with the way they have been ground out in the last two premierships, that’s my question on them.”
Wallace pointed towards GWS's dominant win over Sydney in the first week of the 2016 finals as the type of football he wants to see them play consistently in 2018, believing they failed to come close to that mark at any point during 2017.
He is also concerned about what he expects to be a greater reliance on aging veterans Heath Shaw, Ryan Griffen and Brett Deledio next season, after losing a host of first team players to trades and retirements this year.
The experienced trio are all over 30 years of age, with Griffen and Deledio recently facing lengthy stints on the sidelines due to injury.
However Wallace expects the exits of Devon Smith, Matthew Kennedy and Nathan Wilson and the retirements of Steve Johnson and Shane Mumford will force the Giants to play all three in 2018, with either Griffen or Deledio to possibly replace Wilson as a rebounding defender.
“They’re going to need those three blokes, but there’s got to be question marks on all three,” he said.
David Schwarz expects the Giants to continue to be hard to beat next year, pointing towards their horror run of injuries this year as a likely factor into falling short of making their debut Grand Final.
“If they are able to get their players really out on the park, they are going to be very hard to beat,” the former Melbourne forward said.
“We know how good they are when they do have the footy. It’s when they don’t have the footy when they have to work. They’re a serious side.”
The loss of Mumford however has Schwarz worried about their ruck depth, believing they will fall outside the top four should an injury occur to new first-choice ruck Rory Lobb.
“I’m really concerned about Mumford going out and his influence. If they cop an injury to the big boy, Lobb, they’re going to have to bring Patton up and they’ll be robbing Peter to give to Paul,” he said.
“Their list and their depth could be their biggest undoing.”
The Giants have picks 11, 27 and 28 to play with in next week’s NAB AFL National Draft, with Wallace calling on the club to prioritise the recruitment of a small forward in mould of Richmond’s Daniel Rioli and Shai Bolton to replace the Essendon-bound Smith.
He also believes running defenders should be on their agenda, earmarking Hunter Clark and Ed Richards as potential run-and-carry half-backs for the Giants to consider.
Wallace also says second year players Tim Taranto, Harry Perryman, Will Setterfield and Isaac Cumming are required to step up and have a greater influence on their side in 2018.