Steve Johnson: Toby Greene has a huge impact on a new gen of GWS Giants and blossoming AFL players

Everyone knew who he was straight away. On the field he found a lot of the ball but didn’t have much polish.

He clearly had white-line fever. There was that spitting incident. He came across as the type of person you loved to hate.

But it was off the field where more eyebrows were raised.

You used to see photos on social media where he had a chain on his neck and had his hat backwards. You wondered what the go was with this bloke.

Is he just a cocky little bastard?

Toby and I didn’t necessarily hit it off straight away when I arrived at the Giants at the end of 2015.

I thought he was pretty shy, and one of those guys that takes a little bit of time to form a bond with. But what I did notice was how hard a trainer he was, and how much he loved his footy.

He loves his family and his mates. He is sometimes misunderstood. Those that know him will tell you he is as loyal as they come.

He will know exactly what is going on in the lives of those he cares about because he is a generous person and so giving of his time, including spending time with disadvantaged kids in Sydney. He now understands his role model status as much as anyone.

We built a bond through playing in the forward line together. He soon became part of the family furniture. We had him around for dinner a lot. He loves my kids, and they adore him.

A while back he passed on a DVD to my son. It was the footy highlights package: Biffs, Bumps and Brawlers. Toby had watched it when he was younger. You could probably guess that he’d drawn some inspiration from it too.

He felt it was time to pass that on to someone who also loves his footy and someone with whom he has a strong connection.

This year is a very important year for the Giants after a few years where Covid-19 affected the club’s ability to maintain prominence in Western Sydney and crowds suffered on the back of it. Injuries hurt too. Leon Cameron went from almost coach of the year in 2021 to the club needing to go in a new direction.

In Adam Kingsley the Giants have a fresh voice who can be what the group needs to generate energy and excitement.

Toby has told me that things are going well. Kingsley is a hard task master but is very clear on the direction he wants to take the team. Something tells me he also knew how much of a spiritual leader

Toby is not just the player everyone sees from the exterior, hence why he was announced sole captain.

In the past 12 months he has been much more comfortable holding the room and speaking about expectations. The challenge now is whether he can drive them, challenge others and still be as highly regarded by his peers.

He doesn’t want to be back in that rebuild phase. They got sick of that. They’ve had a taste of a grand final, and that’s where he thinks he belongs. So he’ll do whatever it takes to fast-track the development of younger players.

They want to play more aggressively this year. That will help Toby. But the question is whether they will be able to defend well enough? And whether the Giants have enough depth.

I obviously played under Joel Selwood at Geelong.

Joel was a born leader, a pretty rounded person from when he first walked through the door.

Toby has a similar impact on the group. Every time he trains, every time he plays, he gives maximal effort. No one can ever question that. I think it inspires his teammates in that way. And I think in the past couple of years he’s understood how important it is for senior players to bring younger players through.

He’s put measures in place to stop him making spur of the moment mistakes, to help him deal with his emotions. But the way he plays, suspension at some point is inevitable, because he sees the football and he goes for it, and sometimes these are real split-second decisions. I don’t think anyone should jump down his throat. Every case needs to be judged on its merits.

He’s matured. If guys are going for a beer he now has that strength to have a couple and walk away, if it’s not the right thing for his football.

He really is the heartbeat of the club. Eight or nine out of 10 people would pick him as the club’s most identifiable player. He’s the face of the club, and its best player.

Some still love to hate him, but many others just love him.