The injection of experience into Greater Western Sydney’s team this season is being touted as a key reason for the team’s rising fortunes. Yet, one of the most seasoned and professional additions to the club hasn’t played an AFL game.
Former Test cricketer Simon Katich, the Giants' player mentor and development co-ordinator, has been a secret weapon for the young club, imparting his vast knowledge of success in an elite environment to players at all levels.
In addition to being a match-day runner, conveying orders from the coaching staff to the players, Katich has been working closely with players behind the scenes.
“We’ll have meetings with the main leadership group, the six guys in that, where [head coach] Leon Cameron and [assistant coach] Alan McConnell help out with the footy side of things, but we’ll also discuss game-related stuff, how things are going off the field, general matters, and just trying to make sure things don’t become distractions,” Katich said.
“I’m also helping in the meeting every two weeks with the group of eight emerging leaders and trying to facilitate things, like we’ve set up a leadership lecture at the Royal Military College at Duntroon before our next game in Canberra.
“And then I’m also helping out with the development group, being part of the draftees transition program, when they have their meetings.
“I was fortunate to have great captains and coaches throughout my career. They made a huge impact on me. The coaches have a huge impact on the players at this club and hopefully I can have a small part to play in the players’ development as well.”
Katich sounds like he’s relishing the role. He was appointed shortly before he helped the Perth Scorchers win the Big Bash Twenty20 cricket tournament and returned to Sydney to find a club ready to take big strides forward.
“I did about five weeks of going into the club twice a week before Big Bash season,” he said.
“The big difference I noticed after I got back from the seven or eight weeks away with the Scorchers was that the boys, physically, were in a very different place to when I’d been there prior to Christmas.
“It was really noticeable in those extra eight weeks that the boys were bigger and stronger. That’s a good gauge as to why they’ve had a good start to the season.”
The other factor, he said, was the addition of senior players Shane Mumford, Josh Hunt, Heath Shaw and Dylan Addison as well as the work by Callan Ward and
Phil Davis.
The Giants play Adelaide on Sunday. Top draft pick Tom Boyd could be in line for his senior debut with Mumford sidelined with a knee problem. Cameron could announce Boyd as a part-time ruck, along with Andrew Phillips, the 202 centimetre Tasmanian who played nine games in the club’s first season, but missed out last year due to recurring hamstring injuries.
Dylan Shiel, Lachie Whitfield and Will Hoskin-Elliott face fitness tests but may also return to the side after injuries.
