GREATER Western Sydney youngster's Joe Fonti admits it "hurts a little bit" to see former captain Toby Greene leave the Giants, describing his departure as "abandoning" the club.
Greene left GWS on the opening day of the 2026 AFL free agency period, joining Geelong as an unrestricted free agent on a deal through 2029. The inaugural Giant returned to Victoria primarily for greater family support, while also embracing a fresh football challenge late in his career.
As the Giants' first-to-fourth-year players returned for pre-season training on Monday, Fonti conceded Greene's departure was difficult to accept but said he respected his former skipper's decision.
"It's obviously hard when your captain abandons the side," he said.
"But I know Toby's a great fella and he would have had his reasons, and I suppose that justifies it for him, so I can respect that.
"Obviously it's not easy when your captain abandons you, so it hurts a little bit. But onto bigger and better things, I guess."
Greene's exit is part of a dramatic changing of the guard at the Giants, with Jesse Hogan, Jake Stringer, Lachie Whitfield and Kieren Briggs also departing this off-season, taking a combined 1,088 games of experience with them.
Greene leaves an enormous legacy at GWS as the club's games and goals record-holder after 282 matches and 450 goals. He became co-captain in 2022 before taking the role outright in 2023 and holding it for four seasons. The Giants received Band Three free agency compensation, currently pick No.26, for his departure.
While Greene chose to leave after being offered a three-year deal, the other departures were driven by the Giants' list strategy. Comparable deals were not offered to Hogan, Stringer or Briggs, while Whitfield was encouraged to explore a move. GWS has characterised the overhaul as a "reset" rather than a rebuild, having used 10 top-25 draft picks over the past four years.
Fonti acknowledged the scale of the change but said it was too early to know what the Giants' new era would look like.
"It sounds really cliche, but we just take it one day at a time," Fonti said.
"It's still pretty early to say."
Amid the turnover, Tom Green provided a major boost last week by rejecting rival interest to recommit to the Giants through 2029.
"It's definitely really special that he's committed to the club," Fonti said.
"He's one of our best leaders, really well-spoken, and a great role model. To have him potentially step into that captaincy role would be really special. I'm not sure how it's going to work. We've got a bunch of good leaders, so it could be anyone, but he's definitely one of them."
Green was one of Greene's co-vice-captains last season and is the leading candidate to succeed him, either as sole captain or in a shared arrangement.
The 25-year-old missed the entire 2026 season after rupturing his ACL in February. Originally contracted until the end of 2027, Green signed a two-year extension through 2029 despite significant rival interest, particularly from Tasmania. The new deal takes him through to unrestricted free agency.
Fonti also nominated Connor Idun and Sam Taylor among the club's leadership options and said he would support either a sole captain or a shared arrangement.
"We've got a lot of good leaders," he said.
"I'm not exactly sure how we're going to work out who our next captain is going to be, or potentially co-captains, but we've got a great group of leaders, so I'd honestly be happy with any of them."
Despite not being required to return to training on Monday, senior players Green, Idun, Taylor and Lachie Ash were present for the opening day of pre-season, joining the club's younger players on the track.
