Aaron Cadman at GWS training on April 8, 2026. Picture: Phil Hillyard<\/p>\n
GREATER Western Sydney is poised for a triple boost for its Gather Round clash with Richmond with Toby Bedford, Aaron Cadman and Brent Daniels all pressing to play for the first time this season.<\/p>\n
The trio are expected to return to the lineup, provided they successfully navigate the rest of the week’s schedule, but looked sharp during Wednesday’s training session.<\/p>\n
Adam Kingsley’s side is also set to regain vice-captain Jack Buckley with the key defender having cleared concussion protocols last Saturday.<\/p>\n
These hopeful inclusions come at a crucial time for the Giants, who have begun the season 1-3 amid a challenging seven-week stint away from Engie Stadium.\u00a0<\/p>\n
While the team has successfully moved the ball forward and created scoring opportunities in its previous outings this year, things haven’t quite clicked into gear just yet, but the returning cavalry will give the Giants a massive structural and tactical boost against the Tigers.<\/p>\n
Recruit Jayden Laverde, who will play game No.150 this weekend, highlighted how these additions will provide much-needed stability and dynamic energy to the Giants’ side.<\/p>\n
“It’ll be great to have boys back this week,” he said.<\/p>\n
“I think it’ll just shore (things) up ahead of the ball, and we’ve got some great ball users and a bit of speed coming in. So, (we are) hoping they get through training on Friday.<\/p>\n
“It’ll be great to have those boys in, and (it’ll) be super exciting to play with them for the first time.”<\/p>\n
Toby Bedford at GWS training on April 8, 2026. Picture: Phil Hillyard<\/p>\n
Persistent injuries limited Daniels to just six games last season, however, after getting back to training following an interrupted pre-season – including abdomen\/groin surgery and a hamstring injury – Daniels is ready to make an impact.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Laverde said that while the team adds speed and skill with Daniels’ inclusion, they also gain an on-field leader who elevates the players around him.<\/p>\n
“His ball use going forward is his key highlight, but he’s electric around the ball, and so footy smart,”Laverde said.<\/p>\n
“We’ll get to see a great addition to that forward line and obviously just a bit of a calm head, a bit of a leadership role for him, too, going forward there to help a bit more of a younger forward line down there.”<\/p>\n
Brent Daniels at GWS training on April 8, 2026. Picture: Phil Hillyard<\/p>\n
An influx of returning stars will force the Giants’ coaching staff to shuffle the magnets up forward, leaving several fringe players on the chopping block.<\/p>\n
This structural shift likely means younger forwards such as Max Gruzewski or Josaia Delana could be the ones to make way.<\/p>\n
The midfield and half-forward rotations will also become crowded with Bedford and Daniels back, which could squeeze out Harry Rowston if the Giants prioritise the specialist tagging and speed that Bedford brings.<\/p>\n
While Buckley’s return is primarily a defensive swap, it puts immediate pressure on the young, tall defenders, including James Leake or Leek Aleer.<\/p>\n
Regarding players lifting their game to avoid being dropped, Laverde acknowledged that while the threat of being omitted is stressful, that pressure fuels the high-intensity standards at the Giants.<\/p>\n
“I think that’s just a part of the environment that we’re in,” he said.<\/p>\n
“It’s a natural feeling to be on edge if you feel like you’re on that fringe \u2026 but I think that’s one thing the boys do here, they train with great intensity, and I feel like that’s been a big change in the way we’ve been training this year compared to my 11 years at the Bombers.”<\/p>\n
Drafted with pick No.20 in the 2014 National Draft, Laverde spent over a decade at the Bombers before being delisted at the end of 2025. He was subsequently picked up by GWS via the pre-season supplemental selection period (SSP) in November and has featured in every game to start the season, joining the defensive unit alongside Connor Idun, Harry Himmelberg and Buckley.<\/p>\n
“Being in a backline as good as this one, it’s been quite easy for me to try and come in and adapt to the way they play the game, and they’ve been great at keeping me accountable, and I’ve just been trying to learn from them and make sure I’m doing the right things that they want, too,” Laverde said of his transition.\u00a0<\/p>\n
“Overall, it’s actually been pretty easy, pretty seamless coming through. They’ve been great, they\u2019ve been teaching me the right way, and obviously they’re a great bunch of lads too, so that makes it all the better.”<\/p>\n
Jayden Laverde at GWS training on April 8, 2026. Picture: Phil Hillyard<\/p>\n
Laverde plays his milestone match this Sunday at Barossa Park, albeit in a different guernsey than he might have originally imagined.<\/p>\n
The 29-year-old’s first six seasons were marred by persistent injuries, limiting him to just 46 games during that span. However, a mid-career move to the backline completely reinvigorated him.<\/p>\n
“I’m going into the later part of my career, so it’s obviously very exciting,” he said.<\/p>\n
“I’m not sure how long I’m going to play footy for, so I’ve got to cherish times like these and really take a backwards step and look forward to celebrating with my family and friends and knowing that I\u2019ve achieved something pretty decent.”<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Aaron Cadman at GWS training on April 8, 2026. Picture: Phil Hillyard GREATER Western Sydney is poised for…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":594198,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[64,63,85,83],"class_list":{"0":"post-594197","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-sports","8":"tag-au","9":"tag-australia","10":"tag-sports","11":"tag-text"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/594197","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=594197"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/594197\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/594198"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=594197"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=594197"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=594197"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}