GREATER Western Sydney coach Adam Kingsley has emphatically backed recruit Clayton Oliver to recapture his best form at the Giants, praising the gun midfielder for the way he's applied himself since arriving at the club.

Oliver has fought his way back from a three-week calf injury recently, even completing unprompted rehab sessions on his days off, as the tough onballer looked to establish himself among his new teammates at a second club.

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The three-time All-Australian has endured a difficult stretch both on and off the field, culminating in three successive Trade Periods where his future has been in the headlines, before being tipped out of Melbourne last October.

The Giants completed a cut-price trade for Oliver, parting with only a future third-round pick for his services, but Kingsley is now confident the 28-year-old can rediscover the type of form that resulted in him being a four-time best and fairest and premiership player at the Demons.

"I see no reason why he can't [get back to his best]," Kingsley told AFL.com.au this week.

"Physically, he looks like he's in really good shape. He'll give himself every chance. Even near his best, it's certainly going to be helpful for us.

"But we don't talk about getting back to your best or anything like that, it's about putting yourself in a position physically and mentally to perform at your best and contribute to the team. So far across the course of one pre-season, that's what he's done for us.

"I'm really looking forward to seeing how that all comes together for our team against opposition. It's pretty exciting. But he won't be the finished product at the start of the season, either. He'll have to learn his new teammates, adapt to the way that we play … it's slightly different to how Melbourne played, for instance. He'll have some learning to do. But I'm pretty excited about what he could potentially be for us."

Kingsley dismissed suggestions Oliver and fellow big-bodied ball-winner Tom Green couldn't be part of the same midfield group, saying their roles in the heart of the Giants' team would differ across the year.

"The narrative, potentially, is that both Tom and 'Clarry' can't play in the same team. From what I've read, I'm not certain of the angle of that opinion. Whether it's neither can play in transition, or they'll be fighting for the same ball at stoppage, I'm not sure," Kingsley said.

"What I do know is that they'll have pretty specific roles that they'll have to play for us. They'll work together to get a great result for us, not individually. Both have that type of personality where they're happy to celebrate others' successes and help them achieve what they want to achieve, as well as doing as well as they possibly can themselves."

The trade for Oliver continued a long history of the Giants acting as a second-chance home for players discarded or unwanted at their previous clubs, having enjoyed success in recent years with the arrival of Jesse Hogan and Jake Stringer.

Lachie Keeffe and Heath Shaw fit a similar mould further back, while the theme has continued in the football department this off-season with development coach Robbie Chancellor offered a second opportunity two years after being sacked for a drug possession charge.

Hogan's rise culminated in a Coleman Medal in 2024, while Stringer enjoyed a solid campaign despite being plagued by injury in 2025, with Kingsley confident Oliver will continue the club's success in nurturing star talent outside of the AFL bubble.

"It feels like he's settled really well," Kingsley said.

"He's living with one of his teammates, Toby Bedford, who he's got a great relationship with all the way back from Melbourne. Toby's partner, Suraya, they're all in a house together. It seems like he's fitted in, he's enjoyed Sydney life and spending time with his teammates.

"His first couple of months have been quite good. He missed three weeks with a calf. He's back into training now, back playing games for us in terms of the match play we do. He's been really good.

"The thing about practice and training is that you're splitting the teams. He's not necessarily paired up with the same midfield group every single session. We'll start to integrate that midfield group together and have a bit more of a look at them together, given that we're a lot closer to games and starting to play some meaningful match practice. But I'm pretty excited about what he can deliver for us."

Oliver's arrival, in addition to captain Toby Greene spending more time through the midfield across pre-season, will help the Giants cover for the loss of Josh Kelly following a significant hip operation last November.

While a definitive timeline for Kelly's return is unknown, he is expected to be sidelined for much of the season with Kingsley not ruling out the possibility that the star midfielder isn't seen at all in 2026.

"It's a bit fluid, the timeline, in terms of his recovery process," Kingsley said.

"He'll continue to tick through the boxes of his recovery. There's no pressure on him to fast-track that. We'll just take it nice and slow. It's a pretty big operation that he had, pretty significant. It's going to take time.

"He'll hopefully be available in the back half of the season, but when that is … it might be early in the back half, late in the back half, or it could very well be not at all. We need to be cognisant of that.

"We need to not put too much pressure on him, in terms of risking any damage in the recovery process. He will push as hard as he possibly can to return to play and get really well supported by our staff and his teammates. But in terms of timelines, it's a bit fluid."

Subscribe to the Your Coach podcast to listen to Riley Beveridge's full interview with GWS coach Adam Kingsley next week.