Awful timing: Are GWS picking the right moment to reset?

Are GWS entering a full-on rebuild ahead of the AFL off-season?

SEN Fireball’s Kane Cornes thinks that’s the case, with the Giants set to lose all of Toby Greene (free agency to Geelong), Jesse Hogan (delist/trade to Collingwood), Jake Stringer (delisted) and potentially also Lachie Whitfield and Harry Himmelberg next month.

Cornes believes that shedding these players, who were still performing strongly when fit in 2026, proves that GWS think they need a reset. The question surrounding this is: is now the right time?

Cornes’ Fireball co-host David King certainly doesn’t think so, given Tasmania are just about to enter the competition.

So, will GWS head down to the bottom and find themselves hitting the draft at the same time as the Devils, or can they remain competitive as they reset their list?

Cornes: “Toby Greene is out of the Giants, which to me signals that they are in full-on rebuild mode.

“No Hogan, no Stringer, Whitfield and Himmelberg are on the trade table, and the captain is gone.

“They have a good group of young players. Now it's not a rock bottom, start from scratch, Richmond-style rebuild. But really this signals, ‘We are in a reset/rebuild with a three-to-five-year window’, mode with Greene going.

“Do you agree with that and are you concerned about the future of the GWS Giants?”

King: “Well, I think it's an awful time to be doing this.

“You couldn't have picked a poorer time to make this assessment that it's over, and this is why you've just got to absolutely know where you're at.

“I've said it for 20 years. If you don't know where you're at, you can waste seasons and purge a window for some players, you really can.

“It is the crashing of their second wave. They had a real opportunity around 2016, that area there, where they were just got nutted in a couple of big games… then they had another opportunity five years later, and then that’s crashed.

“I like what they’ve got with (Tom) Green, (Finn) Callaghan, (Aaron) Cadman and (Sam) Taylor's got a lot of footy left in him. They've got to find one or two that I think are there, and if they do purge these players, they can get active in the free agency space next year.”

Cornes: “So, you would think that they can still be finals bound next year?”

King: “They won 10 this year.”

Cornes: “I’m thinking eight.”

King: “I think I'd go with 10 again. I think they can win 10. Tom Green back into that line-up, we've just been robbed of seeing him in his prime this year.

“Clayton Oliver did a fantastic job in that role, but he's not Tom Green.”