GWS coach Leon Cameron has praised the AFL and dismissed Eddie McGuire's criticism of the Giants' academy entitlements, pointing out the issue only rears its head after a big win for his emerging AFL club.
The Giants smashed premiers Hawthorn by 75 points last Saturday, sparking talk from Collingwood president McGuire that the talent-stacked Giants list was over-cooked and the AFL needed to make an adjustment.
"All these comments always come on the back of a win," Cameron said.
"Same thing happened last year, the same thing happened the year before, it's not on the back of a loss.
"We feel as though our club is heading in the right direction. We've got a long way to go, The people that work at this footy club work goddamn hard and I'm really proud of them."
He described the comments as water off a duck's back.
"I can't control anyone's opinion outside our footy club, but one thing I will say is the AFL made a great adjustment last year on fair value in the bidding system in academies and you can't get much fairer than that," Cameron said.
"If Sydney and the Giants and the Lions and the Suns are producing more players into the AFL system via Queensland and via NSW it's only a good thing."
He said forward Devon Smith could miss another six to ten weeks after he undergoes knee surgery.
Cameron wasn't buying into chatter GWS are a genuine premiership threat.
"I think it's quite funny some of the comments they are making, we're 4-2, not 6-0, not 5-1," Cameron said.
"We've won a couple in a row, but to become a good side you've got to keep on winning and at least turning up every week and we haven't proven that yet."
Cameron emphasised GWS still had imperfections in their game despite their impressive performance against Hawthorn.
"There's still some defensive components of our game that are nowhere near up to scratch," he said.
