Former Western Bulldogs coach Terry Wallace still has his concerns over the long-term viability of GWS.
The Giants have experienced a period of success, making two Preliminary Finals in the last three years.
However, Wallace feels the relentless nature of other teams poaching their players could leave them bereft of talent if they stop winning games.
“The GWS Giants have been excellent to this stage, but we saw what happened over the trade period. We saw the problems that they had with the salary cap,” Wallace told SEN Evenings.
“I go up there pretty regularly to that ground and whilst at the moment they’re playing very competitive footy and getting into finals, I still have a worry about them.
“If this group of players doesn’t get a chance of winning a premiership and then all of a sudden as we’ve seen of recent times, they start to come back to the rest of the competition.
“Mark my words, the rest of the competition will still be coming after the Stephen Coniglio’s and Lachie Whitfield’s of the world at 100 miles an hour.
“Will people in New South Wales follow them if they’re not winning, I think that’s still a genuine concern.”
The Giants lost Dylan Shiel, Tom Scully, Will Setterfield and Rory Lobb in this year’s trade period, after Devon Smith, Nathan Wilson, Matthew Kennedy, Cam McCarthy, Jack Steele, Paul Ahern, Pat McKenna, James Stewart, Will Hoskin-Elliott, Caleb Marchbank, Jarrod Pickett and Rhys Palmer exited across 2016 and 2017.
The Giants hit 20,000 members in 2018 as the club continues to build itself from the ground up.