A DEJECTED Leon Cameron is bracing for change at Greater Western Sydney, but says any decision on All Australian midfielder Dylan Shiel's future is still weeks away.
Speculation about Shiel returning to Victoria has raged all season and has heated up in recent weeks, with the likes of Hawthorn, Essendon and Carlton understood to be most interested.
Attention will swing towards the Giants' ability to retain its rich talent base now their season is over, eliminated in a 10-point semi-final loss to Collingwood on Saturday night.
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"We'll deal with that over the next couple of weeks. I'd be disappointed (if Shiel left)," Cameron said.
"There's a lot of speculation on all of our players, and that's been the case for a number of years. (There are) guys who have come, and some have gone.
"We've done a remarkable job in keeping a number of our players through the expansion years. I think the club's done a wonderful job.
"We've created a really good culture, but there's always going to be speculation, because we've got some good quality players and that's just the way it's going to be."
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GWS is reportedly dealing with a salary cap squeeze ahead of next year, when the likes of Shiel, Josh Kelly, Stephen Coniglio, Adam Tomlinson, Nick Haynes, Rory Lobb, Harry Himmelberg and Jacob Hopper come out of contract.
That makes the Shiel situation an even more fascinating one, with the Giants possibly having to sacrifice a key piece for the greater good.
Veteran midfielder Ryan Griffen announced his retirement post-match, so the change has already begun.
Quick thinking and good skills from Ryan Griffen!
— AFL (@AFL) September 15, 2018
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The Giants were aiming to make a preliminary final for the third year in a row, but their 2018 campaign was cruelled by injury, with Kelly, Jon Patton, Tom Scully and Heath Shaw among those out.
Cameron said the injury woes would be addressed, but he believes GWS is heading in the right direction.
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"We're disappointed we bow out in the second week of finals – I mean every club is," he said.
"We're definitely on the right track and we're making up some ground. In a funny way, we've found a way to win a bit ugly this year and maybe we've been accused of not doing that in the past.
"Do we have to tweak some things? Definitely, because we fell short again. But I can't see wholesale changes. I think it's just a tweak here and there."
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Cameron pointed to the development of his younger players, like 22-year-old forward Harry Himmelberg, as proof the Giants had gained something out of the season.
Jezza off his right boot!
— AFL (@AFL) September 15, 2018
The Giants are on fire at the moment!#AFLFinals pic.twitter.com/okHIfl7RFh
"We're disappointed, because we put ourselves in a position to go another step into a prelim, but we weren't good enough," he said.
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"We've got to acknowledge that, then we've got to deal with that over our pre-season, so it's not a wasted year, because no years are ever wasted.
"I think a number of our young fellas got some really good experience this year and I thought we showed some great resilience in the back half of the year to overcome some obstacles we had."