DYLAN Shiel's titanic decision was made.

The 2017 All Australian midfielder was leaving Greater Western Sydney to head home to Victoria after seven years as an inaugural Giant.

A potentially awkward exchange last October instead became a fascinating discussion, over multiple hours, about which club Shiel should play for next.



Essendon won the race for Dylan Shiel, but that doesn't mean the Giants lost. Picture: AFL Photos



Joining Shiel at breakfast was GWS coach Leon Cameron and football boss Wayne Campbell.

"Dylan saw an opportunity to go back to Melbourne – and that's OK," Campbell told AFL.com.au this week.

"He doesn't like us any less and we don't like him any less, so you might as well sit down and have a good chat about it. (Shiel's manager) Paul Connors said that's never happened before.

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"You'd have to ask Dylan (whether the Giants played a part in him choosing Essendon), but he was certainly interested in what we had to say.

"My point is that we know we're a bit different and we know we have to be different."

THE 2018 TRADE PERIOD

Shiel was the centrepiece of what from the outside was a disastrous Trade Period for GWS, with Tom Scully, Rory Lobb and Will Setterfield also heading out the door.

Some media, including AFL.com.au, questioned whether the dramatic exodus would spell the end of the Giants' status as a perennial contender, ahead of their first taste of free agency in 2019.

Hindsight is a wonderful thing.



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"We knew that wasn't the case. We were really confident we could put together a list that could contend over a short period, whether that's three, four or five years," Campbell said.

"But we certainly thought in 2019 we would have a list that was capable of contending, although you have to have most things go your way as well."

THE BEST GIANTS WHO LEFT

YEAR PLAYER CURRENT CLUB 2013 Taylor Adams Collingwood 2013 Josh Bruce St Kilda 2013 Dom Tyson North Melbourne 2014 Tom Boyd Western Bulldogs 2015 Lachie Plowman Carlton 2015 Adam Treloar Collingwood 2016 Will Hoskin-Elliott Collingwood 2016 Caleb Marchbank Carlton 2016 Jack Steele St Kilda 2017 Devon Smith Essendon 2017 Nathan Wilson Fremantle 2018 Rory Lobb Fremantle 2018 Tom Scully Hawthorn 2018 Will Setterfield Carlton 2018 Dylan Shiel Essendon



So bursting at the seams was the Giants' salary cap that Jon Patton and Jeremy Finlayson also came up in trade negotiations last year before staying put.

Go inside the meetings and be there as Leon Cameron and the GIANTS recruiting team prepare for and execute their plan at the NAB #AFLDraft.#BeGIANT pic.twitter.com/2jn2L3hFsF — GWS GIANTS (@GWSGIANTS) November 26, 2018

Almost a year on, Finlayson has enjoyed a breakout season and is a key part of the club's forward line – after previously being a defender – while Patton sat out the entire campaign and is headed for Hawthorn.

These are the typical swings and roundabouts at GWS, which will contest its first AFL Grand Final against 2017 premier Richmond on Saturday at the MCG.

THE TRIPLE-TREAT RE-SIGNING COUP

Free agent Adam Tomlinson will likely end up at Melbourne, but Greater Western Sydney had enormous wins when Nick Haynes, Josh Kelly, then Stephen Coniglio re-committed this year.

The Giants haven't lost, coincidentally or not, in the three games since Coniglio's announcement on finals eve that he was hanging around for a further seven seasons.

"I don't think you can overstate it," Campbell said of securing the signatures of the star trio.

"Given the transient nature of players now, given where we are, and the fact other clubs come hard at our players.

"For those guys to turn their back on significantly more money and other things elsewhere, it means we've developed a pretty special footy club, I reckon."

In another tick for their retention success, former No.5 draft pick and free agent Matt Buntine also re-signed for two years this week.

There are more challenges on the horizon, with Lachie Whitfield, Jeremy Cameron and Zac Williams entering free agency next season.

THE MECHANICS BEHIND THE FERRARI

There was a huge advantage in how the AFL loaded the Giants with priority player access and high draft picks, but with that came the complication of turning blue-chip investments into a successful team.

Gold Coast has so far failed despite many of the same start-up handouts – and an AFL Commission meeting this week debated and ticked off on more help.

GWS is one victory away from its maiden premiership in the same season the Suns claimed their first wooden spoon, in the ultimate example of how wildly their fortunes have contrasted.

By design but with some luck, the Giants incorporated more role players into their senior side – many of them rival clubs' discards – in recent seasons to strike a better balance.

AFL LIST DEMOGRAPHICS IN 2019

CLUB AVE. AGE AVE. GAMES Hawthorn 24.1 88.9 Collingwood 24.0 88.0 Adelaide 24.0 82.4 Geelong 23.5 81.1 West Coast 23.5 78.8 GWS Giants 23.4 75.1 Essendon 23.4 66.0 North Melbourne 23.3 73.7 Richmond 23.2 79.1 Western Bulldogs 23.2 68.8 St Kilda 23.2 65.6 Port Adelaide 23.1 79.9 Sydney 23.1 74.7 Melbourne 23.0 65.7 Fremantle 22.9 67.6 Carlton 22.7 63.4 Brisbane 22.6 66.6 Gold Coast 22.4 58.1



Matt de Boer, the best of their bargain-basement recruits, spoke to AFL.com.au about this dynamic last year, likening them to the mechanics so necessary in keeping a Ferrari purring.

"Your draft pick isn't a prerequisite for playing in this team," de Boer said at the time.



Matt de Boer is becoming the unlikeliest of heroes. Picture: AFL Photos



The former Docker, who's risen to become the game's No.1 tagger, headlines an unheralded group that includes Brent Daniels, Sam Reid, Adam Kennedy, Daniel Lloyd and Lachie Keeffe.

Harry Perryman, Tomlinson and Buntine are first-round draft picks but belong somewhere in this category, too.

THE RECRUITING MASTERSTROKES

Campbell readily admits, with an accompanying chuckle of satisfaction, that de Boer's extraordinary second life as an AFL footballer at GWS has exceeded all expectations.

However, a rival recruiter this week suggested it was no accident. Rather than simplistically highlighting the Giants' draft riches, he went down a different route.

The recruiter pointed out the team-based running – saying one high-profile ex-GWS player didn't fit that requirement – and how so many of their footballers were competitive beasts who thrived in the contest.

Much of that owes to one of the best recruiting men around, Adrian Caruso, who is in his fourth year in the job, as well as list manager Jason McCartney.

Caruso's first-round hits include Tim Taranto, Perryman (matching Adelaide's bid) and Will Setterfield, while there is great hope for Jye Caldwell, Jackson Hately, Aiden Bonar and Isaac Cumming.



Adrian Caruso studies his notes at the 2018 NAB AFL Draft. Picture: AFL Photos



Equally as impressive were later selections such as Daniels, second-year key defender Sam Taylor, Bobby Hill and fellow goalsneak Zac Langdon.

It was supposedly luck again that played a role in Daniels landing at the Giants with pick 27 in the 2017 AFL Draft, despite other clubs baulking at his 170cm size.

"I still feel we got a little bit lucky that year to get a player who you rate so highly on your talent board, but also who fills the specific one need that we had," Caruso told AFL.com.au's Road to the Draft podcast last week.

GAINING HIGH-END COMPENSATION

Campbell laughed again at the lack of retirees at the club.

Instead, GWS is often left shipping off players still in their prime, but usually with top-end draft picks in return.

The Adam Treloar and Shiel deals were quite similar, with both delivering the Giants first-round selections across two years, while a second-round choice went to Collingwood and Essendon, respectively.

Tom Boyd fetched Ryan Griffen and the Western Bulldogs' pick six, while Lobb and Devon Smith also added to GWS's first-round draft hauls.

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The much-discussed, pick-heavy Dom Tyson trade with Melbourne saw the Giants rise to No.2 in the 2013 AFL Draft, which was famously used on emerging superstar Kelly.

One exception was Taylor Adams, who was a straight swap for Heath Shaw, although Collingwood also paid a percentage of Shaw's contract the following year.

Regularly losing players of this calibre isn't ideal, regardless of depth, but the compensation ensures GWS remains a contender – so long as Caruso and co. can continue to unearth gems.

"Does Jye Caldwell instantly replace Dylan Shiel? No, of course he doesn't, because he's an 18-year-old replacing a 24 or 25-year-old," Campbell said.

"But we always felt that that would give (Jacob) Hopper and Taranto more time in the midfield … and we hope Caldwell will reach that level in the coming years."

Hopper and Taranto were subsequently two of the AFL's breakout midfield stars in 2019 and have been outstanding in the finals.

Hopper ranks first at the club for disposals, contested possessions and clearances in its three September games, while Taranto leads the coach-voted Gary Ayres Award for the best finals player.

And on and on it goes. The Giants do it differently – they have to – but they do it very, very well.