Harry Himmelberg can expect to be the focus of more opposition attention in 2019. Photo: GETTY IMAGES

GREATER WESTERN SYDNEY
2018 record: 14 wins, 9 losses, 1 draw (6th)
List age ranking (oldest to youngest): 8th
List experience ranking (most to fewest games): 10th
Footyology draw ranking (easiest to hardest): 11th

THE INS
Shane Mumford (GWS), Tommy Sheridan (Fremantle), Jye Caldwell (Bendigo Pioneers), Jackson Hately (Central District), Xavier O’Halloran (Western Jets), Ian Hill (Perth), Kieren Briggs (Pennant Hills), Connor Idun (Geelong Falcons), Callum Brown (Derry – GAA)

THE OUTS
Dylan Shiel (Essendon), Rory Lobb (Fremantle), Tom Scully (Hawthorn), Will Setterfield (Carlton), Ryan Griffen (retired), Tim Mohr (delisted – Hawthorn), Lachlan Tiziani (delisted)

THE BEST 22
B: Nick Haynes, Phil Davis, Aidan Corr
HB: Lachie Whitfield, Adam Tomlinson, Zac Williams
C: Josh Kelly, Jacob Hopper, Brett Deledio
HF: Stephen Coniglio, Jeremy Cameron, Matt De Boer
F: Toby Greene, Jonathon Patton, Harry Himmelberg
R: Shane Mumford, Callan Ward, Tim Taranto
Inter: Heath Shaw, Zac Langdon, Adam Kennedy, Sam Reid
Emerg: Sam Taylor, Jeremy Finlayson, Dawson Simpson, Matt Buntine

THE PROGNOSIS
It might seem somewhat premature to dismiss the premiership aspirations of a side which finished last season only three goals away from a spot in a preliminary final.

But as Greater Western Sydney enters its eighth year in the AFL and shoots for a fourth consecutive finals appearance, there are certain trends surrounding the Giants which can’t be ignored. They’re only marginal, but it’s the direction which is significant. And it isn’t up.

In 2016, GWS finished a goal shy from a grand final berth after that epic preliminary final against eventual premier the Western Bulldogs. Two seasons ago, the Giants bowed out at the same stage against Richmond, this time by six goals. Last year, the exit came a week earlier, in a semi-final against Collingwood.

The same gradual decline exists beyond finals performances, however. The Giants won 16 games in 2016, 14 in 2017 and only 13 last season. Their ranking for points scored has declined from second to sixth to 10th last season. Defensively, they’ve gone from fourth to fifth to sixth.

And all the while, the drain of talent continues. From that line-up which came so close in 2016 has now departed, among others, Dylan Shiel, Devon Smith, Tom Scully, Rory Lobb, Nathan Wilson and the retired Ryan Griffen. Have they been replaced by equivalent talent? Not at this stage.

Even the move to redraft Shame Mumford at 32 and after a year off is something which would have seemed unthinkable a couple of seasons back.

So have the Giants missed their chance? Not definitively, but I think not only would everything have to go right for Leon Cameron’s team to have any sort of show this season, but a lot go wrong for a long queue of rivals besides.

You simply can’t ignore the catalogue of injuries to key players which have hobbled GWS for each of the past two seasons. But now that the likes of Toby Greene, Josh Kelly, Zac Williams are back in harness, the Giants can’t simply expect to turn the key and have the engine purring as it did in 2016.

This version of GWS doesn’t have the same zip about it, and whilst there’s still plenty of midfield talent via Kelly, Stephen Coniglio, Callan Ward, Lachie Whitfield and Jacob Hopper, the balance has clearly tipped more in the direction of grunt than glitter. To that end, the loss of Scully and Shiel can’t be underestimated.

There’s issues up forward, too, where Cameron and co. can do little more than hope spearhead Jonathon Patton is able to recapture something like his best when he returns from a third knee reconstruction around mid-season.

That makes Lobb’s departure more telling, too. Where once the Giants were spoiled for choice as far as marking targets went, in 2019 there will be a heavy reliance upon Jeremy Cameron to recapture his All-Australian form along with Harry Himmelberg, who can expect to be the focus of more opposition attention as a result.

A full season from the gifted Greene will obviously help that forward productivity, but again, he, too, can expect to be a marked man, the Giants’ semi-final loss to Collingwood a good example of how curbing Greene goes a long way towards stopping an entire team.

As heartbreaking as that 2016 preliminary final loss was for GWS, there was plenty of optimism nonetheless that the glory days were only a matter of time. But that’s not how it’s panned out. And the longer time elapses, the more it looks like for this generation of Giants, that may be as close as they get.

THE PREDICTION
9th. The Giants still have plenty of talent, they have plenty of hardness at the contest, they defend well. But is that enough? Do they have cohesion that comes with a group playing regularly alongside each other and rises collectively to the biggest challenges? I’m not convinced.

THE LADDER SO FAR (click on team to read)
9. GREATER WESTERN SYDNEY
10. HAWTHORN
11. SYDNEY
12. BRISBANE LIONS
13. PORT ADELAIDE
14. WESTERN BULLDOGS
15. FREMANTLE
16. CARLTON
17. ST KILDA
18. GOLD COAST