Former Melbourne star Garry Lyon says anything less than a maiden Grand Final appearance for Greater Western Sydney in 2017 will be a failure, as he declares their list as scary for the rest of the competition.
He said for every young superstar another club has, the Giants have the best part of 30, which is a frightening proposition.
“I think anything less than a Grand Final will be a failure,” Lyon said on SEN Breakfast.
“They’re an awesome list when you look at it and I think the rapid development of these kids is a surprise to no-one.
“When a Carlton, or a Melbourne, or a St Kilda get a (Paddy) McCartin, (Jack) Billings or a (Christian) Petracca you get so excited when you see this rate of development.
“They have 30 of them, so whatever side you barrack for, think of your best kid, your out and out best kid, they have 30 of them. Half of them won’t be getting a game, they will be running around in the NEAFL.
“The other scary thing is that this list, for the guys that don’t play they will just continue to trade them off for future early picks, so they can just regenerate.”
Former Essendon legend Tim Watson says the Giants have the talent and the game plan and their hopes will come down to whether they have the maturity to handle the expectation.
“I reckon the question here with them this year is handling that expectation with that group of players,” he said. “Is the maturity there yet and right to handle that expectation?
“Leon Cameron is a relatively inexperienced coach still, he will never have experienced expectation like he’s going to feel as a coach now.
“We know they’ve still got some precocious young talent, I would think there’s still some real man management issues within that group.”
Both Watson and Lyon believe their heartbreaking loss to the Western Bulldogs in last year’s preliminary final could prove to be their greatest learning lesson and impetus to go father.
“They didn’t win that game though…they were beaten by a team probably that was a greater unit and what they might have been on the day,” Watson said.
“That might be the greatest learnings of their whole existence is that game, they might look back on that game and study, and have a look at what the key players for the Western Bulldogs did in crunch moments,” added Lyon.
“That’s why Toby Greene is going to be a better player, Devon Smith’s going to become that player, Jonathon Patton’s going to become better, Jeremy Cameron has got enormous upside.
“Cameron’s almost the player you plonk right in the middle and say this why they can win the premiership, because he had a poor year by most people’s expectations, but kicked 53 goals.
“The improvement for him takes him to 70 goals.”
What they added over the off-season...
National draft: 2 – Tim Taranto, 5 – Will Setterfield, 14 – Harry Perryman, 20 – Isaac Cumming, 54 – Lachlan Tiziani, 58 – Matt De boer – Zach Sproule (Zone selection)
Rookies: Tendai Mzungu, Jake Stein
Trade: Brett Deledio
What they lost from 2016...
Retired: Nil
Delisted: Jake Barrett
Traded: Will Hoskin-Elliot, Caleb Marchbank, Cam McCarthy, Pat McKenna, Rhys Palmer, Jarrod Pickett, Jack Steele, James Stewart, Paul Ahern
The first month...
Round 1: Adelaide v. GWS Giants at Adelaide Oval
Round 2: GWS Giants v. Gold Coast at Spotless Stadium
Round 3: North Melbourne v. GWS Giants at Blundstone Arena
Round 4: GWS Giants v. Port Adelaide at Manuka Oval
Predicted headline...
“I don’t think we’ve ever heard of or seen a side that’s been talked up so much before not making a Grand Final,”- Sam McClure
“We all see it as a failure if they don’t make the Grand Final, which is an extraordinary expectation on any team.
“The media will be coming at them like wolves for every game that they lose.”
Where will they finish?
Gary: 1st
Tim: 1st