Boom GWS recruit Clayton Oliver has impressed teammates by becoming a more rounded player and heads into his first clash with former club Melbourne in red-hot form.
Oliver backed up his season-high 38 disposals last week with a game-high 37 touches in the Giants' 78-point shellacking of defending premiers Brisbane on Sunday.
GWS improved to 5-6 and go into the round-12 clash against the Demons in Alice Springs full of confidence after kicking their highest ever score (166), most in a quarter and an AFL/VFL all-time third-quarter record of 86 points.
Midfielder Oliver, who was traded to the Giants late last year, was outstanding in the first half when the game was close.
He is averaging 31.7 disposals a game, fourth-highest in the competition, but has shown he is far more than just a prolific ball winner.
Your weekly Clayton Oliver half time post:
— GWS GIANTS (@GWSGIANTS) May 24, 2026
🍊 20 disposals
🍊 13 contested possessions
🍊 8 clearances
🍊 462 metres gained
🍊 5 inside 50s
🍊 4 score involvements pic.twitter.com/WuhLxKtAxJ
"We know what he's really good at, he wins clearance, he hunts the footy really well," GWS star Lachie Ash told AAP.
"But its sort of some of the stuff that he probably doesn't get paid attention, like his defensive work has come a long way.
"His ability to cover for others when its their turn to go and things like that, it's something I've been really impressed with.
"He just keeps getting better and better with that and he's playing really good footy and adding that to his game, so he's just becoming more rounded ... We love having him at our club."
Ash racked up a game-high 773 metres gained against the Lions, but said the impressive win didn't come off the back of their superstars.
"A lot of our role players, who probably don't get their time in the sun as much as others, really stood up" he said.
"We'll need that next week against a really good Melbourne team."
He praised Harry Himmelberg, Jayden Laverde and Connor Idun for their efforts after fellow defenders Lachie Whitfield and Jack Buckley were sidelined by hamstring issues, just before and after the start respectively.
Ash was confident the stunning win could act as a kickstart a mid-to-late season run, a trademark of coach Adam Kingsley's first three campaigns.
They were 3-7 in 2023, but won 12 of their next 15.
GWS surged to 5-1 in 2024, but dropped to 8-7 before a run of seven straight wins, prior to heartbreaking narrow finals losses to Sydney and Brisbane.
The 2025 push started from 7-6 and a win over the Lions, one of six straight victories and nine out of ten.
"We're one and none (after Sunday's win), I guess we start our season now and we really can build in to the back half of the year," Ash added.
"I think we should get some players back which would be nice."
Kingsley said GWS could have inspirational key defender Sam Taylor available for his first game of the season.
