TALK OF trading No.1 draft picks and Chad Cornes's retirement has taken some of the spotlight off the immediate decisions for winless Greater Western Sydney.
 
But coach Kevin Sheedy is aware the selection choices he makes in the final nine games of his illustrious coaching career will be critical to the club's development.
 
This time last year, all of the Giants' first 11 draft picks had made their debut and four had played at least eight of a possible 13 games.
 
In 2013, three of the club's six selections in the 2012 AFL draft are yet to play in Jono O'Rourke (selection No.2), Kristian Jaksch (no.12) and James Stewart (no. 27).
 
Of those who have made their debuts, Lachie Whitfield has played 12 games, Lachie Plowman six and Aidan Corr eight.
 
"I have got nine weeks of selection left," Sheedy told AFL.com.au. "How do you want me to run it? Selection is important for these nine weeks for these young players."
 
Continual comparisons with Gold Coast are commonplace but Sheedy points out that the Giants' list is much younger.
 
The average age of Greater Western Sydney's list is 21 years and 135 days compared to Gold Coast's average age of 22 years and 219 days.
 
And the Giants have not had Gary Ablett to carry 20 per cent of the total burden while his teammates developed.

Against Port Adelaide in round 12, the Giants fielded a team with 559 games experience, an average of just 25 games per player.
 
If there has been a more inexperienced team take the field in modern times it is hard to find.
 
That's why the Giants have declared their potential No.1 pick to be on the table and said they will focus on gaining four or five experienced players during trade time.
 
Things started to turn soon for the Suns after the 2012 bye when the team began to perform more consistently and some players locked down on their position.
 
The Suns team that pushed Geelong in round 15 last year, one week before their first win for the season, had 1209 games experience.
 
Last week's team had 11 different players but remained at 1215 games experience.
 
Yet many players were into their third - and in some cases fourth - season together in a Suns jumper and the belief in each other was growing.
 
That is an advantage the Suns had going into their third season that the Giants might not.
 
Regardless of who they manage to procure in the off-season, the Giants will have a bigger adjustment process to undertake between years two and three than the Suns had.
 
But who knows? Talent might get Greater Western Sydney across the line against the Western Bulldogs as early as this week and when its young players – who, as Sheedy says, are just two years out of year 12 – start to emerge, the team will explode.
 
He taught them a lesson again last week – forcing them to adopt a plan midstream because the game demanded it, despite their lack of training for the situation.
 
Some criticised him for putting numbers behind the ball but he saw who responded to the challenge, and how.
 
Sheedy has nine weeks to leave his legacy, starting now.
 
It should make for interesting viewing.