The Giants suffered a cruel finish to 2024 after a season where they were deemed genuine premiership contenders.
Two extraordinary come-from-behind wins from Sydney and Brisbane sent GWS packing in straight sets, despite dominant performances by Coleman Medallist Jesse Hogan.
The Giants then lost significant cogs to their machine, watching Isaac Cumming, Nick Haynes, James Peatling, and Harry Perryman depart.ย The latter two remain the most notable exits, with Peatling and Perryman playing 19 and 21 games respectively in 2024.
However, the Giants were able to snag a late deal for wantaway Bomber Jake Stringer, creating a scary forward line on paper. Regardless of the lazy, unmotivated narratives surrounding Stringer, he still joins the Giants as a 40-goal-per-season player, adding on to Hogan and Toby Greene who also achieved that feat in 2024.
Players such as Leek Aleer, James Leake and Phoenix Gothard could all be pushing for more consistent selection in 2025, but the Giants' line-up will likely be a familiar sight next season.
We've assessed the Giants' squad and determined a best-23 side, analysing their depth across all three lines on the field.
Our Best 23 for 2025 series will include players unavailable for the start of the season, except for those expected to miss most or all of the season through injury or suspension.
Forwards
From an opposition's perspective, the forward line will be the scariest prospect when facing the Giants in 2025.
With the addition of Stringer, GWS now boasts three 40+ goalkickers (Hogan and Greene), as well as a rapidly developing former No.1 pick in Aaron Cadman and All-Australian Brent Daniels, who is arguably the best small forward in the competition.
To put the talent into perspective, Hogan led the competition for goals in 2024, Daniels led the competition for goal assists, while Greene was just three goal assists shy of becoming just the 14th player ever to kick over 30 goals and record over 30 goal assists in a single season.
Darcy Jones also made his debut in 2024 and proved to be a threatening small target, kicking 12 goals from 14 games. Jake Riccardi too had a solid season, kicking an average of 1.4 goals per game, while Toby Bedford also remains a viable option.
Youngsters Conor Stone, Phoenix Gothard, Cody Angove, Toby McMullin and Harvey Thomas will all be pressing for selection but may be squeezed out due to the abundance of talent already firmly holding their spot in the forward half. However, when an opportunity arises there will certainly be selection headaches, for all the right reasons.
