FOR SO long, the man they call 'snooze' at Greater Western Sydney had put the opposition's best midfielder to sleep, but as the Giants searched for answers to their mid-season form funk, Toby Bedford's tagging role was ditched.

Since moving out of the GWS engine room, the tough tackling 25-year-old has shifted back to the half-forward pressure role he was initially recruited for, and it's worked.

With the shackles now off, Bedford produced arguably his best performance of the season in the critical win over Gold Coast last week with six tackles and two goals, while the Giants midfield got the better of the Suns' celebrated on-ball division.

For GWS it's not a slight against using a tagger, far from it.

Coach Adam Kingsley just wanted to alter his side’s dynamic in much the same way as when Bedford was asked out of nowhere to be the run-with specialist last year.

"We weren't playing our best footy and I was still tagging, playing my role in a way, but we weren't getting the results we wanted, so he (Kingsley) just thought 'let's try something new' and try use my attributes in a different role, and it's helped the team," Bedford said.

"I'm really enjoying it, going back to small forward which is what I was brought here to play. I'm finding my feet back in the forward line as well. It's great fun. If the tagging role comes back up, I’ll be ready to do that as well, it’s good to have both roles and the capability to help the team."

It wouldn't surprise if Bedford's tagging role was reprised at some point soon. 

He won his head-to-head battles more often than not after the surprising positional switch last year and his scalps included some of the biggest names in the game.

And while he's been shifted away from the centre bounces and mainstream midfield action, he believes those skills he was forced to learn fast have enhanced his defensive game up forward.

"Definitely. Setting the pressure in the forward half, I did learn a lot from tagging, especially against the very best players. It's small things like running patterns and things like that. I learnt a lot from it and I’m grateful for that, but I'm looking forward to a finals series as a forward with all these new attributes," he said.

The newly acquired lockdown skills will get the biggest test of all at Engie Stadium on Sunday when Nasiah Wanganeen-Milera struts out in his first game since minting the most talked about new contract in the game.

Kingsley has spoken in detail about the need to shut down St Kilda's biggest threat, and while it's set to be a job for the collective, Bedford will likely have to lead the way when the Saints' number seven is jetting out of defensive 50. 

"If that's the case it won't just be me, it'll be a whole team thing. He's an absolute weapon and there’s a reason he’s the first $2 million player. He’ll be on the radar going into the game and if we can limit his game, it'll go a long way to winning it."

As relieved as they may be to lock away a finals spot in the brutal race this year, the Giants know they need to take care of business one more time in the home and away season with a home final in their grasp.

"It's inevitable to think about finals, everyone will, but we have to take care of this weekend, it's extremely important. We love travelling but a home final would be huge," Bedford said.

Regardless of where they play, the Giants are illustrating once more that their 'anyone, anywhere' mantra remains as strong as ever, with away wins over Gold Coast, Brisbane and Geelong transforming the second half of their season.

And it's giving them enhanced belief that an inaugural premiership can happen in 2025, with or without a top-four place.

"It's so close, anyone can win it - there’s not a clear favorite this year. We definitely believe that if we play our best footy, we'll beat anyone," said Bedford.

"Because we do travel so much, we’re confident wherever we play. Playing away doesn’t bother us at all, so it helps."