No one expected GWS under new coach Adam Kingsley to make the finals, let alone be one point from a grand final.
A year of exploration for the Giants nearly became the road to the promised land.
But there is plenty to build on for next season.
Letter Grade: A
The Sporting News takes a look at GWS Giants' 2023 season.
Did GWS over/under achieve in 2023?
Most pundits expected the Giants to finish outside the eight as they found their feet with new leader Kingsley.
After their bye in round 15, GWS were in 14th position and simply not in the finals race.
In fact, the Giants even languished in the bottom four at the end of four rounds, including at the conclusion of round 12.
But wins in seven of their last nine games saw GWS come from the clouds to snare seventh spot.
After comfortably defeating St Kilda and Port Adelaide in the first two weeks of finals, only the barest of margins saw the Giants fall short of the big dance.
And the fact they would have been worthy grand finalists just shows how much they over-achieved in 2023.
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What worked?
Nearly everything went right in the second half of the season.
The Giants - playing an attacking brand of football - steamrolled most of the competition with their orange tsunami.
Most of their much-vaunted midfield hit their straps with Tom Green, Josh Kelly, Stephen Coniglio, and Callan Ward all going close to their best form.
The forward line became super dangerous with Toby Greene the star, and Jesse Hogan finding career-best form toward the back end of the campaign.
In defence, Sam Taylor is arguably the best defender in the AFL, only missing All-Australian because of the amount games he has played. while Jack Buckley and Connor Idun were extremely solid sidekicks.
And even ruckman Kieren Briggs went from the VFL to becoming one of the best big men in the competition.
What went wrong?
If you forget about the slow start to the season, which could be expected under a new coach, not much went wrong for the Giants throughout the season.
Taylor being fit in the early stages of the campaign could have actually seen the team secure a top four berth in hindsight, such is his impact on their defence.
In the preliminary final loss to Collingwood, the Giants had two periods in the game, first quarter and latter part of the third quarter, where the Magpies ran all over them.
These lapses can be expected from a young team but were probably the difference as to why they aren't in a grand final.
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GWS best player
How can you go past Toby Greene - who was named as All-Australian captain after a career-best season.
Greene kicked 66 goals in 2023, which was 21 more than his previous best of 45 achieved in 2017 and 2021.
He elevated his game to the point where he was the number one worry for opposition coaches and then backed it up with performances.
Greene is certainly going to be an enjoyable player to watch over the next few seasons.
Who should GWS target in the AFL trade period?
It's unclear what moves the Giants will make in the trade period with the club's list looking in healthy shape.
Earlier on in the season, there were rumours the Giants could trade for the no.1 pick.
But that was probably an option if Harry Himmelberg decided to leave, with the defender eventually opting to re-sign.
Himmelberg's Adelaide-listed brother Elliott has been talked about as a possible option.
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