GIANTS star Toby Greene has shut the door on any speculation he could be lured back to Victoria at the end of the season by signing the longest contract in the club's history.
Greene, a GWS original after being taken with pick 11 at the 2011 NAB AFL Draft, has re-committed to the club for another six seasons, tying him to the Giants until at least the end of the 2024 season.
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The Victorian has played 117 games for the Giants in his six seasons in the competition.
The 24-year-old stamped himself as one of the competition's best forwards in 2016 when he won All Australian selection and was crowned club champion for the first time.
Even though his existing deal wasn't due to expire until the end of the 2018 season, the always media-shy Greene said he was keen to sign on as soon as possible to avoid the frenzy that surrounded his teammate Josh Kelly last year.
"It saves a lot of lying to the media I guess," he said with a laugh.
"I saw what happened with Josh Kelly last year, he copped it, so I was interested in that."
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Greene hasn't always been a poster boy at GWS, with some disciplinary issues hampering his early years in the AFL, but the club has always stood by its young gun.
He said that played a major role in his decision to keep calling Sydney home, and he never contemplated a move to another club.
"The Giants have shown massive faith in me throughout my career and given me a few chances, so I was more than happy to repay the favour," he said.
Given the off-field incidents that tested the Giants' patience with Greene early in his career, a six-year deal could be seen as a risk for the club, but the contract says plenty about his growth both as a player and a person.
Greene said his past indiscretions weren't mentioned during his negotiations, and GWS chief executive Dave Matthews told AFL.com.au that the latest re-signing was a massive boost for the club.
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"The coaches and players around Toby have great faith in his talent, so I think if you have an opportunity to go long term then it makes great sense for both parties," he said.
"What it also does for us is that it gives our fans, our members and our sponsors, the confidence that this club is headed in the right direction, and we've got an outstanding culture.
"In the early stages of the club, others in the industry said that potentially our players would go home, but we've been able to retain all the ones we've wanted to keep, and it's been brilliant for us."
The good news continues for the Giants and Greene, with the forward declaring himself fit to play against Sydney in Friday night's JLT Community Series clash.
A broken toe in the off-season took longer than expected to recover, but Greene has increased in training in recent weeks and said he's looking forward to his first hit out of the season.
"I'm sure I'll be blowing in the first five minutes, but I think that’s pretty normal," he said.
The gun goalkicker becomes the latest big name to invest his future in the Giants after reigning club champion Kelly re-signed last year, while youngsters Aiden Bonar, Tim Taranto, Will Setterfield and Harry Perryman have all extended their initial contracts in the past 12 months less than a year after being drafted.
