The Greater Western Sydney Giants will draw inspiration from AFL rivals Collingwood as they look to chart a course up the ladder under first-year coach Adam Kingsley.
The mid-season departure of Kingsley's predecessor Leon Cameron underscored a disappointing season for the Giants, who finished in the bottom four and then lost star midfielders Tim Taranto and Jacob Hopper in the trade period.
The Giants are poised to replenish their stocks from the draft class, having secured three first-round draft picks, including number one, as well as pick 19.
Asked whether a top eight finish was realistic given the turnover and his status as a first-year coach, Kingsley gave a coy response but said he was taking comfort from the Magpies' swift rebuild under Craig McRae this season.
Collingwood came into this year with rookie coach McRae after a bottom-four finish in 2021, but young players including Nick Daicos, Jack Ginnivan and Isaac Quaynor played significant roles in turning their fortunes around.
"They did a fantastic job last year," Kingsley told reporters.
"Collingwood were in our situation last year and under Fly (McRae) were able to spike and finish in the top four.
"They're certainly an example to us that anything's possible."
Kingsley ran his first official training session on Monday and is hoping to capitalise on the speed of the Giants' list as he develops a brand of football that can hoist the club up the ladder and bring supporters back.
The Giants attracted only an average of 9,219 fans to home games this year - their lowest figure on record other than in the COVID-affected 2020 and 2021 seasons.
"We want to play a faster brand of footy," Kingsley said.
"We want to play an exciting brand of footy that's going to bring the supporters, make them enjoy watching the Giants play.
"That's certainly the plan at this stage."
As he reconfigures the game plan, Kingsley said he had moved on from the loss of Hooper and Taranto but hoped to build a culture that would allow GWS to overcome the difficulties of retaining players as a non-Victorian club.
"There are challenges, no question but the reality is you can complain about it or you can deal with it and move on and that's what we're doing," he said.
"We'll continue to work on the culture, we'll continue to build connections.
"We appreciate (the departing players), we love them, we wanted them to stay but ultimately their decision was such that they wanted to go.
"I feel like the demographic of the group is such that we have a lot of really experienced players still here."
The club has been linked with highly-rated country Victorian key forward Aaron Cadman, who could become the Giants' first number one pick since Tom Boyd in 2013.
Kingsley said the Giants would keep homesickness in mind at the draft table, especially after the most recent top pick Jason Horne-Francis requested a trade back home to South Australia after only one year with North Melbourne.
"It's one of many considerations you make assessing the talent coming through the draft," he said.
"(Cadman) is certainly in the mix. He's a very good player."
