GWS have reportedly "reignited their interest" in hosting a home and away season AFL game in the United States, likely California.
The New South Wales club investigated the logistics of playing a game for premiership points in America four years ago, with former GWS coach Kevin Sheedy assisting the push.
The unprecedented arrival and subsequent impact of the COVID pandemic halted those plans, which are now said to be renewed by the Giants for the coming years.
According toย 9 Newsย reporter Tom Morris, the Giants sent a staffer to the US last year to inspect newly built cricket venues in the country for the new Major League Cricket competition and upcoming T20 World Cup.
Those grounds could have the needed dimensions and stadia to host an AFL game, giving the Giants another avenue to potentially play a game overseas early into a future season.
The AFL's recent fixture call to split its opening round for the 2024 season is also said to be seen as a move that could accommodate a team to play overseas in the future.
"The GWS Giants have reignited their interest in becoming the first AFL team to host a home and away game in the United States," Morris reported on Tuesday.
"The two venues I'm talking about are Los Angeles and San Francisco. These are the games they'd like to play there maybe in the next few years.
"Plans are still in their infancy, but my understanding is a GWS staffer travelled to the US last year to scope out potential venues, with cricket grounds built by the ICC (International Cricket Council) also big enough to also host a game of football.
"Back in 2020, the plan was to play against Essendon. Kevin Sheedy was involved in these plans, as was former Essendon CEO Xavier Campbell. COVID put an end to that.
"Essendon is not involved at the moment, the AFL is keeping at arm's length, but the Giants are.
"It's on their radar because they believe that the split round this year is a precedent for future years, where they could potentially play in the opening round of the season and then come back to Australia and play in Round 2."
The NRL's 2024 draw is set to get underway in Las Vegas, with a pair of matches at Allegiant Stadium to kick-off the new campaign.
The South Sydney Rabbitohs, Manly Sea Eagles, Sydney Roosters and Brisbane Broncos will all play in the US in early March, with their following matches not scheduled for almost a fortnight later.
GWS could host a game in either Los Angeles or San Francisco - the latter already home to a baseball franchise under the Giants moniker, one that also wears orange -ย to open their own season before coming back and having a week off during the second half of a split first round.
Both Los Angeles and San Francisco have previously hosted Australian Rules Football exhibition contests, with North Melbourne and Sydney meeting before a sell-out crowd at Intramural Field, UCLA in 2006 and Geelong and Sydney doing battle in the bay area way back in 1963.
The US clash could be introduced as early as 2025, with the NRL only announcing their move into North America last August.
