GWS co-captain Phil Davis has scoffed at suggestions the Giants may struggle in 2019 following the departures of star trio Dylan Shiel, Tom Scully and Rory Lobb.
The Giants have been knocking on the door in their quest for their first premiership, playing off in a preliminary final in 2016 and 2017, before being knocked out by Collingwood at the semi-final stage last year.
Davis says the loss of experienced players is nothing new for the expansion club, and he again expects them to be there at the pointy end of the season.
"Yeah, I guess any time you have an exodus of a couple of players in you're best 22, there's always going to be a fair bit of chat about that, but I think we've lost a couple of players every year," Davis said on SEN Afternoons.
"The way our list was set up in terms of draft picks and that, we sort of knew it was always coming, because the AFL has got the salary cap for a reason and eventually you can't fit them all in.
"What we have been able to do is trade players out and get picks in and breed them from the bottom up again."
Davis, 28, who has played 121 games in 10 seasons in the AFL (three at Adelaide, seven at GWS), admits GWS doesn't have the number of elite players as years gone by, but he believes that can be offset by the fact the list has played a lot of footy together.
"One thing that has hurt us the last couple of years has obviously been our injuries and that’s been spoken about a fair bit," Davis said.
"So, we probably don't have the depth of high-end talent that we've had previously, but in saying that, at the same time, I think if we don't have injuries what he have out on the field for the last three years will be very similar.
"Plus playing together for a few years in a row… we've seen that with West Coast – a pretty stable list in terms of their top 15… playing together's really important, and I think that's where you sometimes get greater benefit than just purely talent on the field."
In addition to Shiel, Scully and Lobb, the club also farewelled Will Setterfield, Ryan Griffen, Tim Mohr and Lachie Tiziani over the off-season.
GWS brought in Jye Caldwell, Jackson Hately, Xavier O'Halloran, Ian Hill, Kieren Briggs and Connor Idun at the 2018 national draft, while Irishman Callum Brown was signed as a rookie.
The Giants meet cross-town rivals Sydney in their opening JLT Community Series clash in Blacktown on March 2, before travelling to Canberra to host Adelaide on March 8.
They open the 2019 AFL season at home against Essendon on Sunday, March 24.