GWS co-captain Phil Davis has lamented the club’s salary cap issues that saw them lose a host of players during the trade period.
Foundation players Dylan Shiel (Essendon), Tom Scully (Hawthorn), ruckman Rory Lobb (Fremantle) as well as youngster Will Setterfield (Carlton) all departed the Giants in a bid to alleviate space in their cap.
“I must admit since 2015 there’s been a bit of balancing act of our salary cap,” Davis told SEN’s Time On.
“Then you add in the fact that the AFL took away COLA (cost-of-living allowance) there were challenges that we knew were coming.
“Lots of players made a lot of sacrifices over the time and unfortunately it gets to a point where you’ve got so many good players, they can’t keep knocking back good offers and we have to lose some players.
“It was disappointing to see - especially Shiel and Scully who have been there since the start, you’ve been through a fair few tough years with them and it was great to be teammates with them.
“But unfortunately the business side of it says we needed to find some space, but I still think we’re in a great position – our list is as good as any.”
By relieving their salary cap squeeze the expansion club will be looking to secure news deals for star duo Josh Kelly and Stephen Coniglio.
Listen to Phil Davis’ chat on SEN’s Time On with Sam McClure in the player below