Veteran AFL club administrator Graeme Allan will soon leave GWS, capping a big loss of off-field experience from the expansion club.
The Giants announced on Monday that one of the AFL's most savvy football department bosses will return to Melbourne for family reasons.
Allan, 61, has been with the Giants since 2010, two years before they joined the league.
It is understood Allan will not go straight to another club when he leaves the Giants at the end of April.
After 141 AFL games with Fitzroy and Collingwood, Allan was the Magpies' football manager when they famously won the 1990 grand final.
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He went to Brisbane and was a key figure in the Lions' 2001-03 premiership three-peat.
The AFL then lured Allan to the Giants to help set up their newest club.
It has been a time of off-field transition at GWS, with Stephen Silvagni returning to Carlton as their recruiting manager.
Craig Lambert and his wife Melissa, who had player welfare roles at the Giants, have also gone to Brisbane.
Allan will stay at the club for the next few weeks and be on the panel that appoints his successor.
Giants chief executive David Matthews said Allan, foundation coach Kevin Sheedy and current assistant coach Alan McConnell had played pivotal roles in preparing the team for the AFL.
"He has done an incredible job setting us up for future success," Matthews said.
