GWS coach Leon Cameron says former Giants Dylan Shiel and Devon Smith might be nervous heading into Sunday's opening-round return to their old AFL home.
A quirk of the draw means Shiel, who has played more games for the Giants than any of the players he will face on Sunday, makes an immediate return to Sydney Showground Stadium after being traded to Essendon.
Smith, who also played more than 100 games for GWS, before moving to Essendon after the 2017 season, took a cheeky swipe at his old home ground, labelling it a graveyard.
He has already played there once as a Bomber racking up 21 possessions, 12 of them contested, and a whopping 13 tackles in Essendon's 35-point win there last May.
Smith went on to win Essendon's best-and-fairest award.
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"They spent a large period at our footy club and they are obviously quality players," Cameron said of Smith and Shiel on Thursday.
"Devon had a big year last year and Dylan will be keen to be off the front foot this week.
"It's like anything - if you're worried about ex- players too much, you sort of take your eye off the ball.
"We've got to acknowledge their strengths and what they are really good at - there's a lot of them.
"But we move on and look forward to Jacob Hooper ad Tim Taranto playing a lot more midfield time and getting their opportunities.
'Will those guys be a bit nervous coming back to their old ground? Probably but the ball bounces and then it's on."
Cameron didn't rule out tagging speedster Shiel.
"There's no doubt we'll look at it," he said.
"Traditionally, we haven't been a midfield running tagging side; we've done it a little bit.
"We sometimes do it at our front end. It's probably a go-to mechanism that we've put into place if things weren't going well.
"But in saying that, he's a quality player; Devon Smith is a quality player; Zach Merrett is a quality player - they've got some great mids."
Cameron revealed two of the Giants' new midfielders and 2018 first-round draft picks, Jackson Hately and Jye Caldwell, had suffered setbacks.
Caldwell was ruled of the round-one game with groin soreness, while Hately's impressive progress was stalled briefly by a bout of tonsillitis.
