HE LOOMS as a crucial solution to the Giants' pre-season injury woes and Brent Daniels is adamant he can return from his own litany of setbacks as the same player who proved so damaging two seasons ago.

The soon-to-be 27-year-old managed just six games throughout 2025 as he was cut down by abdomen and groin problems, impacting his career momentum after leading the competition for goal assists in the season prior.

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During that 2024 campaign, Daniels proved himself a genuine match-winner and the No.1 lever for coach Adam Kingsley to pull when GWS needed a fresh spark in the midfield.

With the Giants still coming to terms with Tom Green's absence for the entirety of the season, along with serious setbacks for Sam Taylor, Toby Bedford, Darcy Jones and Josh Kelly, the return of Daniels this year is timely.

And he's not interested in any notion that rediscovering his best form might prove a challenge.

"Well, I'm still the same player. I don't know why I wouldn't be able to impact games the same way," he told AFL.com.au.

"Yeah, I had an injury-hit year, but I'm still the same player. I've still got the same attributes, so nothing's changed.

"Confidence levels are fine. Injuries happen. We play a really high impact sport, so you can't get despondent when they come. I'm confident enough having put in a good training block now and I'm really excited for the season ahead."

A returning Daniels in full flight may give the Giants' engine room a different option in 2026 when employed away from his customary role in attack, but there is no playing down or replacing the loss of Green, who led the AFL in clearances and contested possessions per game last year.

Daniels knows the Giants midfield bull better than most, having travelled to Ghana with him in the off-season to visit the homeland of close friend and teammate Connor Idun.

"Obviously, he's incredibly flat and disappointed. Especially doing a full pre-season, then getting to the last session before pre-season ends and doing a knee," Daniels said.

"He's a great guy, a really good friend of mine and I was really sad to see him go down. But he's been really optimistic around it in terms of the future.

"He's obviously a phenomenal player, and he's a massive part of what we do, but injuries happen, and we've got to find ways to win without him now. That's just the reality.

"I think we do have the depth. We brought in 'Clarry' (Clayton Oliver), which now looks like a pretty good move for us, and we've had a lot of young guys, who probably haven't got their chance over the last few years because we've been so strong, but now maybe they get their chance.

"And not every team will have their full side for the whole year, either. Injuries will happen everywhere unfortunately."

As important as the recruitment of Oliver now proves for GWS, the former Demon was brought in to take some of the load off superstar midfield duo of Green and Finn Callaghan, rather than replace them.

And the Giants are mindful that others will need to fill the breach to ensure the midfield isn't overrun in their quest to challenge for that elusive first premiership.

"You can't really replace Tom. He's such an incredible player, but I think a lot of guys can help fill the void. Toby's (Greene) been spending a little bit of time in there, myself guys like Xavier O'Halloran and Harry Rowston have had good pre-seasons as well," Daniels said.  

"I think we just have to share the load a little bit. One guy doesn't win you premierships, it takes a whole list. So, everyone just needs to carry the slack a little."

 As for those flag hopes, they have not dimmed in Daniels' eyes despite the Giants' injury woes this pre-season.

"We're optimistic, I think we've got the list that can do it. The last three years have been really close so that doesn't change now that Tom's gone down," he said.

"We've had a great pre-season. I think we've got the list to take us there, but we've got to get off to a good start and not look too far ahead."