Not much has gone right at the GIANTS this season, but plenty has gone right for co-captain Stephen Coniglio, following the toughest two years of his AFL career.

The 28-year-old was limited to only seven appearances in 2021 due to a syndesmosis injury and lingering issue with his toe, following an equally challenging 2020 after inking a lucrative seven-year deal and taking over from Phil Davis and Callan Ward as skipper.

But while the GIANTS have only won only six games in 2022, Coniglio has re-established himself as a star this winter, averaging 24.9 disposals, 6.8 score involvements, 5.4 tackles and 4.5 clearances, along with 17 goals from 19 games.

The GIANTS still need to secure a permanent coach for next year and handle the fallout from another expected player exodus in October, but they will start pre-season with the knowledge one of their prized assets is purring again.

Speaking to AFL.com.au ahead of the trip to Melbourne to face the Western Bulldogs at Marvel Stadium on Saturday, the West Australian said he left all the baggage of 2020 and 2021 in a quarantine room in Perth following last year’s semi-final loss to Geelong, not stopping to look back since.

"My goal over the summer first and foremost was to get my body back and strong. Internally, one thing I've always held in good stead is having people around me who have strong belief in me," Coniglio said.

"Personally, I've always had belief if I can get my body right, I can contribute on the field. As great as it is that I've been able to play some better footy, being close to the bottom of the ladder isn’t great.

"(It was) one of the most challenging periods of my footy career. I've been dropped as a captain and dropped as a second-year player and a fourth-year player. I'd kind of been through those things before, but it was a really challenging landscape in general.

"We were in hubs and not being able to contribute as a captain wasn't ideal, but for me I always had really good perspective. One thing I would recommend to anyone who is going through a rough patch is to look at other athletes or things that are going on in the world, people who are doing it a lot harder than me.

"I found myself last year in a really bad way in terms of the way I was thinking, and it wasn't me. I had really good support around me; I was in Perth, I had my fiancée with me and my family. I was doing a week of quarantine and was in a bad way. Where do I go from here? I sat down and reflected and came down with a deadline; from now on I'm going to be positive, come back bigger and fitter and better and that's really where it stemmed from."

It has certainly worked. Coniglio is the fifth most-improved player in the league this season, according to Champion Data. Will Brodie, Jai Newcombe, Tristan Xerri and George Hewett are the only players who have produced a bigger increase in AFL Player ratings. If Sam Taylor doesn't win the Kevin Sheedy Medal, Coniglio could secure his first.

After an awful performance against the Swans in the Sydney Derby in round 20 that resulted in a savage post-mortem assessment by interim coach Mark McVeigh, the GIANTS produced an emphatic response against Essendon last weekend.

McVeigh wore heat externally for his blunt assessment at the SCG and his decision to stand by the senior players at selection – even though there was only a handful of fit players available – but Coniglio welcomed the scathing review.

"He would never have done that if he didn't have the relationship with the players. Personally, in the landscape we work in across the AFL, I just love the honesty and love the honesty of Mark. It was the same message he had to the playing group," Coniglio said.

"I know for sure as a player and one of our co-captains, speaking to the playing group that Monday and Tuesday, we all took it personally, whether you played or not. We know we let ourselves down, especially against our crosstown rivals. The response against Essendon was great. I love the honesty and I think we miss that sometimes in AFL."

Four-time premiership coach Alastair Clarkson has met with the GIANTS' decision makers – Dave Matthews, Jason McCartney, Jimmy Bartel and Tony Shepherd –several times, but looks destined for North Melbourne. Melbourne assistant Adem Yze and Richmond assistant Adam Kingsley are also being considered, but there isn’t much noise around McVeigh.

Rhyce Shaw, David Teague and Brett Ratten all landed the gig on a full-time basis in 2019 after taking the reins as caretaker coach. Robert Harvey was the only one to do it last year, before moving from Collingwood to join Sam Mitchell’s coaching panel. Now McVeigh is waiting to learn his fate.

Coniglio endorsed the 41-year-old and said he will only get better in the role full-time and with the support of his coaching panel, which has included former Essendon teammates James Hird and Dean Solomon on a part-time basis since Leon Cameron departed.

"I think he's done a wonderful job. No doubt we've had some really good performances and some inconsistent ones and some bad ones in there. But he’s got my full support. He's going to be a wonderful coach," Coniglio said.

"If he does get the gig, he's got my support 100 per cent. I think he brings a great mix to this group and he's got a lot of ideas. With some time over a pre-season and the group of coaches he has with him, it is going to be an exciting future if it is him that gets it."