Number one draft pick Lachie Whitfield has signed with the Greater Western Sydney GIANTS until the end of 2016.
 
Whitfield, 19, has played 18 games in his debut season for the GIANTS since being drafted from Mount Martha in Victoria at the end of 2012.
 
The classy midfielder has averaged 17 possessions a game and was rewarded with a NAB AFL Rising Star nomination for his performance against Carlton in round 10.
 
Whitfield is the latest in a long line of players, including previous number one draft picks Jonathon Patton and Tom Scully, to make long term commitments to the GIANTS.
 
Whitfield brings to 25 the number of players who have now re-signed with the GIANTS since they joined the club, including Jeremy Cameron, Dylan Shiel, Adam Treloar, Stephen Coniglio, Devon Smith, Dom Tyson, Nick Haynes, Adam Kennedy, Toby Greene, Adam Tomlinson, Jonathan Giles, Will Hoskin-Ellitot and Curtly Hampton.
 
Whitfield says he’s thrilled to secure his future at the GIANTS. 
 
“I’m rapt to have re-signed until the end of 2016. I’m loving Sydney and loving what the club is providing for me,” said Whitfield.
 
“I’m really excited about the future here at the GIANTS with the new headquarters (at Sydney Olympic Park) on track to be ready for next year which will give us first class facilities to train and prepare in.
 
“Leon Cameron has done a lot for me this season and I’m looking forward to continuing to develop my game under him,” he said.
 
Chief Executive David Matthews said the signing was another coup for the club as it approached the end of its second season in the AFL.
 
"For Lachie to have made this decision while still in his first year at the club is a great endorsement of the GIANTS and a great endorsement of expansion into Western Sydney and Canberra," Matthews said.
 
"I want to thank all the players including Lachie who have committed to the GIANTS for the faith they have shown in the club. They clearly believe we have an exciting future and they want to be part of it.
 
"I also want to congratulate our General Manager of Football Graeme Allan and List Manager Stephen Silvagni who have not only recruited these players to the club but had a concerted strategy to develop and retain them.
 
“The list establishment rules for the new AFL clubs were only as strong as the clubs’ capacity to develop and retain these players and the GIANTS have certainly done that. As a club we have invested heavily in the welfare of these players with the facilities at Breakfast Point and our player welfare team led by Craig and Melissa Lambert who have done a brilliant job to help transition these young men into Western Sydney.
 
"The establishment of our new training base at Sydney Olympic Park including the Tom Wills Oval has also been pivotal and it will provide us with first class facilities to rival other AFL clubs right on the doorstep of our home ground at SKODA Stadium," he said.