Giants stopper Sam Taylor salutes in Sydney's west

The All-Australian defender has added to his swag of awards this season.

SUBSCRIBER | August 27, 2022 - 10:04am

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GWS defender Sam Taylor has continued to reap rewards this week, adding his inaugural Kevin Sheedy Medal to his tailor-made All-Australian jacket plucked off the rack on Wednesday.

Though Taylor's percussion proved unable to make a return to September this season, finishing with just six wins for the entire campaign, the 23-year-old intercepted returned in style throughout 2022, battling back heroically after illness.

Struck down with septic arthritis for much of the COVID-shortened 2020, the Western Australian returned with aplomb, claiming the second most intercept marks throughout the competition, also sitting in silver for spoils.

In what became a theme throughout the Giants' count, skipper Stephen Coniglio finished 48 votes in arrears of Taylor to finish on the podium after his own efforts to regain ground.

As documented during Amazon's docu-series 'Making Their Mark', the fellow Swan Districts product had lost form and confidence during the hub months of 2020, eventually losing his place in Leon Cameron's best-23, despite holding the armband.

With 37 majors, perennial offensive threat Toby Greene edged former Dee and Docker Jesse Hogan for the club's goal-kicking title.

Still, after finding a level of consistency that had previously sat out of reach, Hogan's campaign was capped with a top-five finish on count night.

Mature-aged talent Jacob Wehr took home GWS' rising star gong after breaking through for consistent minutes throughout what proved to be a dismal season in Sydney's west.

Riverina product Harry Perryman claimed the coaches' award, his seasonal peak coming in Round 10 with 30 touches and a goal during the Giants' 52-point win over the beleaguered Eagles.

After failing to make the eight's cut for just the second time in seven seasons, the expansion franchise will lick their wounds ahead of the exchange period before getting to work under newly-minted head coach Adam Kingsley.