How much will the loss of four key players hurt the GIANTS this season?

It's a question GIANTScoach Adam Kingsley has been forced to ponder since last October, when Harry Perryman, Isaac Cumming, James Peatling and Nick Haynes all departed to rival clubs in high profile trade or free agency moves.

The fact Kingsley has had to think about that question since October is probably why he's refined his answer as succinctly and as sharply as he has.

"How many did Brisbane lose throughout last year?" Kingsley replies, dryly. "It killed them, didn't it?"

Kingsley's point is a valid one. Keidean Coleman, Tom Doedee, Darcy Gardiner and Lincoln McCarthy were all earmarked to play significant roles for the Lions last season before suffering ACL injuries that ruled them out for the year. Oscar McInerney was another to miss their Grand Final side through injury. Brisbane won the flag anyway.

So, why can't the GIANTS – who appeared on the cusp of glory before a straight-sets finals exit last year – overcome four senior regulars going out of their side in a similar fashion to the Lions 12 months on?

"Guys will get opportunities to play. Whether it's playing in a different position or playing in our AFL team. That doesn't have to be negative," Kingsley says.

"Brisbane's a great example of losing really good, quality players throughout the season and reinventing some or bringing new players in to really have an impact. Not that I've really spoken to our players about this at all, but that's my mindset.

"We lost some really good players and some really good people from our football club, but it doesn't have to be a negative thing. Other guys will get an opportunity and with opportunity comes the potential of a bit of growth. Maybe we're better off, I don't know."

The re-tooling process to replace such senior talent has already begun at ENGIE Stadium, though any changes won't be significant. The GIANTS, aside from bringing in veteran forward Jake Stringer from the Bombers, will trust what they have.

Jacob Wehr has been moved from a wing into the backline to give the side more depth in Perryman's absence. Uncapped former first-round duo James Leake and Phoenix Gothard have also been tipped to make the leap to AFL level this season.

Conor Stone, Xavier O'Halloran and Wade Derksen are set for more senior opportunities, having also flirted with exits during last year's Trade Period, while three more first-round picks were welcomed during November's national draft in Ollie Hannaford, Harry Oliver and Cody Angove.

A number of other youngsters – Leek Aleer, Harry Rowston, Max Gruzewski, Toby McMullin, Joe Fonti and Harvey Thomas among them – have also been billed for larger roles ahead of the upcoming campaign.

"There will be [positional changes]," Kingsley says.

"We haven't dug too much into it yet, because we haven't been playing games. There will be some. I can imagine there will be some subtle changes around positional responsibilities. We'll see, as the games start to unfold, what that looks like a little bit further.

"In terms of complete shifts, like shifting a back to a forward, no. We're not doing any of that. We've had a couple of minor ones to some younger guys or some guys who are on the fringe."

Though before the GIANTS looked ahead to the 2025 season and the positional changes that will potentially be on the horizon, they looked back. After a 15-8 season earned the club a top four berth last year, successive finals defeats resulted in a straight-sets exit from September. Both losses burned as much as the other.

In the first, a qualifying final defeat to crosstown rivals Sydney, Kingsley's side let a 28-point lead slip from its grasp. In the second, a semi-final loss to Brisbane, a 44-point buffer was ripped away in an instant. The cumulative margin of defeat for both games was just 11 points.

"We did address it," Kingsley says.

"You (prevent any scarring) by addressing it. You identify, 'Here are the things where we need to get better … let's work on them over the summer and throughout the season'. Then we work our backsides off to give ourselves another opportunity in the same position and another opportunity to win or lose. But, this time, let's implement the lessons we've learnt a little better."

Kingsley is confident in what's to come. Earlier this week, he suggested the arrival of Stringer helped the club take "a step forward and a step closer to winning that premiership". Stringer's signing followed a season where the club's win total across the home and away campaign lifted from 13 wins in the coach's first season to 15 last year.

Having qualified for a preliminary final in Kingsley's first season at the helm, then finished in the top four last season, is another improvement now on the cards in year three?

"I don't think ladder position necessarily makes me feel that," Kingsley says. "I just watch the way we play. I look for attitude and effort, I look for the way we're executing, the way we want to play, I look at when we're playing well and when we're not. That's what gives me confidence.

"I feel like we're more than capable of being the best team in the competition. But we're also more than capable of missing finals. That's the nature of the competition right now. It's so close, who would know? What that means is we've got to be playing close to our best most weeks to be able to win.

"We're not going to win every week, but if we play close to our best we'll give ourselves every chance. If we give ourselves every chance by playing close to our best, that's what I look at.

"We look at the process, not the result. The ladder is the result, and everyone will check the ladder midway through the year and do our predictors, we're all the same. I should record my ladder predictor at the start of the year."

For those wondering, yes, Kingsley does indeed do an AFL ladder predictor on the eve of the season.

"I do one, absolutely," Kingsley laughs. "We were top, of course. We didn't lose a game, we were the '72 Dolphins.

"But the way we play and how consistent we are in doing that is the biggest indicator. That's what I look at, ultimately. And you measure yourself against the best teams, too. How do we play against those teams that are the best in the League? Last year, we were pretty good against most of them – particularly at the end of the year – but not good enough."

Indeed, the GIANTS were good enough to get five goals up on Grand Final runners-up Sydney in the qualifying final, and then 40-odd points up against the eventual premier in Brisbane in the semi-final. They might have fallen short on both occasions, but will still take confidence from such performances into the year.

"Thanks for reminding me," Kingsley says, just as dryly as he started.

"But in order to get 40 points up, you've got to be doing something right.

"And it was 44 points against Brisbane, to be exact."