GWS should be “extremely worried” about the prospect of up to five players leaving the club this off-season, according to Stephen Silvagni.
Star forward Jeremy Cameron dropped a bombshell on the Giants when he informed the club that he will pursue his options as a restricted free agent with Geelong his likely destination.
Zac Williams (Carlton), Aidan Corr (North Melbourne) and Jackson Hately (Adelaide) also want out of the Giants while Jye Caldwell is attracting interest from Essendon.
Silvagni says losing “three bona fide players” in Cameron, Williams and Corr is “very concerning” for GWS moving forward.
“When the club first started up, they obviously had concessions in relation to draft picks and zones, but they also had extra money in their salary cap in terms of being able to retain players,” the former Giants list boss told SEN Breakfast.
“That was taken away and that was a considerable amount of money. We’re looking at anywhere between $2 million and $3 million at some point.
“They started to lose players like (Dylan) Shiel and (Adam) Treloar and (Taylor) Adams, we’re talking three to five years ago so they lost a lot of those players. So I think we have to take that into account in terms of how many players have left that club.
“But if you look at the situation at the minute – and this is my opinion – as a club I’d be really worried.
“The fact that you’ve probably got three bona fide players in Williams, Corr and Cameron leaving the football club – they’re in their best 22 – then you look at Hately and possibly Caldwell leaving, who are high draft picks.
“If I was that football club and I was a CEO and board, I’d be extremely worried and trying to find out why this is happening because to have five players pretty much walking out of your club is very concerning.”
Have the Giants missed their chance of winning a premiership with this group under coach Leon Cameron?
“I don’t know whether it’s about money, I think they may have missed their chance of winning a Grand Final,” Silvagni said.
“You look at the Richmonds, when you win one (a premiership), generally you can keep the group together.
“These boys, I know they are close up there, but the fact they’ve possibly missed that chance to nab a Grand Final win, I think that’s hurt them.
“The concerning thing for the Giants is they can’t panic here, particularly during this trade period. They’ve got to reset.”
This year, GWS missed the finals for the first since 2015 after making the Grand Final last season.
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