GREATER Western Sydney coach Leon Cameron has hit back at critics of the club's large academy zone, saying it's too early in the process to be judging the success of the Giants' recruiting pool.

Most of the controversy surrounds potential No.1 NAB AFL Draft pick Jacob Hopper, who hails from Leeton, a small town in the Riverina region, around 550 kilometres west of Sydney.

GWS detractors say the Giants are being gift-wrapped some of the country's best talent, from what they describe as 'traditional football heartlands', but history shows the area isn't exactly churning out AFL stars by the truck load. 

Geelong's Tom Hawkins and Hamish McIntosh, Demon Daniel Cross and former St Kilda star Justin Koschitzke are players drafted from the Riverina region to have extended careers in the AFL in the past 15 years.

"I think there's only four or five players to have played 100 games that have come out of the Riverina area," Cameron said on Thursday.

"Isn't it great for the game that we actually develop more players out of the academy so then more go into the draft pool, that allows more clubs to pick them, like Port Adelaide did last year?" 

Canberra's Logan Austin and Wagga Wagga product Dougal Howard were both drafted by the Power in 2014. 

Sydney Swan Harry Cunningham, also from Wagga Wagga, was the first player from the GWS Academy to be listed by an AFL club when he was drafted by the Swans in 2012. 

Zac Williams, from Narrandera in southern New South Wales, was the first GWS Academy graduate to debut in the AFL, when he was picked in round five, 2013. 

Jack Steele, another Canberra boy from the academy, is close to a senior call-up with the Giants after starring in the NEAFL this season. 

In April, AFL.com.au revealed the AFL may look at realigning the Giants’ academy recruiting zone as clubs question the club’s hold on traditional football areas.

Cameron believes it's the club's positive on-field results that have thrust the academy debate into overdrive this year. 

"People just look at it because of where the club is at. This time last year if the Sydney Swans had finished last, would we be talking about Isaac Heeney?" Cameron said.

"Don't mess with the academies, because it's only four years in and we've produced three or four players, so we've got to be really careful."

The Giants meet another interstate rival when the Brisbane Lions travel to Sydney to take on GWS at Spotless Stadium for the first time on Sunday afternoon.

Nick Haynes will be missing with a groin complaint, which Cameron revealed the young defender had been battling for some time.

Co-captain Phil Davis is the perfect replacement for Haynes, and returns after he missed last week's loss to the Western Bulldogs through suspension.