It seems reasonable for Daniel Lloyd to have a fair bit running through his mind at the moment.

There is, after all, a fair bit going on in his football world.

He's had one of the best seasons of his career at a time when the GIANTS have charged through to a semi-final and catapulted back into the premiership window with immediacy. To top it off, Saturday night's clash with Port Adelaide will also be Lloyd's 100th AFL game.

But all of that is occurring with his retirement confirmed at seasons end, be it this week, or after the last Saturday in September.

That poses the question - why has he chosen to call it quits now?

"It's definitely crossed my mind, I'd be lying if I said it hadn't, Lloyd told AFL.com.au.

"But it's the right time for my family and myself. My kids are getting older now, they're 10 and 8 soon, so we want to get our family settled in an environment where we'll spend the next phase of our lives. The more we prolong that here, it hurts our kids a little more."

The family aspect formed every part of the retirement decision, according to Lloyd, who is adamant it was made before any dialogue with the club about his future was held.

"Definitely nothing from the club, I love this place and it'll be tough to leave it once we go as far as we can this year," Lloyd said.

"I'll be happy to sit back next year and watch the boys succeed, I'll be more than happy to do that, that's fine."

That love the Central Coast product has for the GIANTS is apparent and it certainly flows both ways, as highlighted by Toby Greene's claim on the day his retirement was announced that they "had to get him to 100 games".

Not just for his teammate, but Lloyd's son Parker who seemingly wanted the milestone for Dad, more than anybody.

"Parker, he's over the moon. He doesn't voice it too much but I can see it in his eyes that it meant a lot to him," Lloyd said.

"He's a special guy, Toby. He's the sort of guy that doesn't ask you to do anything that he won't do and you'll do anything for him. He's a great captain, leader and teammate.

"When I first walked through the door, I wouldn't have thought I'd have got close so it's pretty special to get there but that's only a small part of what we're doing right now. 100 games is good, but I want to play a few more."

It would be folly to play down the GIANTS chances of adding a more numbers to Lloyd's tally before he's done, too.

He may not be the biggest name amid the cohort of GIANTS stars, but as someone who had a front row seat on the ride to the 2019 Grand Final, he has seen enough to know what this current group are capable of.

"We're just a different team now. A new coach, different system and new players. We play an exciting brand of football that you hear said a lot: 'it stacks up at this time of year'," he said.

"We don't need to change anything, just need to keep playing the way we're playing, back the system in and see where that takes us. It's a really exciting time."

This week the GIANTS will travel to Adelaide with that bullish attitude that they can beat anyone, anywhere, as highlighted by their AFL/VFL record of wins at 11 different venues this season.

The Adelaide Oval, in particular, has been kind to the GIANTS, with a six-win, four-loss record from their last 10 visits.

"I was in the team in 2018 when we beat Adelaide for the first time there and it seems like we've won most of the times when we've gone back. It's an amazing place to play football and like we've done all year, we just embrace an on-the-road challenge," Lloyd said.

"We didn't get the job done a couple weeks ago against them (round 22) and we just want to respond with the win."

Lloyd is emblematic of the GIANTS' approach in attack since Adam Kingsley came on board.

High pressure, no fuss, efficient, unselfish football.

There are stars in Greene, Jesse Hogan and Brent Daniels but everyone buys into the mantra.

Toby Bedford, Xavier O'Halloran, Jake Riccardi, Callum Brown and Lloyd have done so with aplomb all season long and they've all benefited at different stages.

"We've got our roles within that forward line. We'e all different in ways and everyone's just happy to do what they need to do. It's really clear what our roles are, there's no grey, we just embrace that," Lloyd said.

"By us doing that everyone gets their reward. One week it might be Brent Daniels' week, the next it might be someone else's. We're happy to do that."

Lloyd would like to stay in the game in some form when he makes the move north, but if not, the former carpenter will pick up the tradie tools again and be more than grateful for the journey he's been on.

He's forever indebted to Mark McVeigh for plucking him from the obscurity of amateur footy with Killarney Vale in the Black Diamond League and giving him the chance at the top level.

"He's absolutely the reason I'm here, he put himself on the line and put my name up," Lloyd said.

With his future now mapped out, he can attack the rest of this finals series with a clear mind.

"You can get a bit lost playing this game in the pressure of always needing to perform and always wanting to perform. I guess I've put that a bit to the side and wanted to embrace everything that's coming because I know it's coming to an end so there is a different mental approach," he said.

"I'm just trying to enjoy it, try and enjoy every bit of it. I knew I'd be finishing up at the end of the year two months ago so I've had some time to get that through. I'm just enjoying the ride, I'm loving that we're playing finals footy again, I'm loving the way we're playing, we've got huge belief in the group and it's an exciting time to be at the club."