With Greater Western Sydney battling a pre-season injury crisis, Indigenous on-baller Harry Rowston looks set for increased opportunities in 2026.

The Giants confirmed star midfielder Tom Green will miss the entire season after scans revealed a ruptured ACL, which he suffered during an intra-club match simulation last Friday.

On the same day, speedy utility Toby Bedford was sidelined with a hamstring strain, while the club also revealed Finn Callaghan is managing a minor hip flexor injury that will rule him out of their two pre-season hit-outs.

Those setbacks don't just test depth - they create opportunity.

And Rowston, who has impressed through summer and has already shown he can hold his own at AFL-level, suddenly looms as one of the big winners in terms of midfield minutes when the real stuff begins.

The 2025 season was a turning point for Rowston.

After spending a long stretch out of the senior side, he forced his way back in mid-year and strung together a solid run of games that gave him the belief that he belongs at AFL level.

That confidence has carried into this pre-season, where Rowston has been among the shining lights during competitive work with his abilities in the contested situations.

Speaking earlier in the pre-season, Rowston said last year's breakthrough gave him a clear platform to attack the off-season.

"It was a good year for me to sort of get a bit of comfortability within the team; I played a few good games which was nice," he said.

"Obviously I would have loved to have been playing in the team in September but to play a few nice games and to know that I'm good enough to be at the level really had my motivation levels high in my off-season training.

"I think confidence is everything in this game ... A little but of confidence does wonders for everyone so to be able to get that and go out there and play my natural game with the confidence that I got definitely helped me."

Further strengthening the Giants' engine room is the arrival of Melbourne champion Clayton Oliver - an acquisition that gives young midfielders like Rowston a ready-made example to learn from day-to-day.

"I mean he's a beast isn't he," Rowston said of his new star teammate.

"He just finds the footy and his running patterns and things like that (are elite).

"I can't wait to watch vision with him and pick his brain about what it takes to be an elite midfielder like himself.

"So I'm pretty keen to get in there and learn as much as I can off him."

Rowston is locked in at the Giants until at least the end of the 2028 season after the club opted on granting him a two-year contract extension on top of his already existing deal.

The tough inside midfielder has played 17 AFL games in total since being drafted by the club with selection 16 in the 2022 AFL National Draft.

He will be hoping that the 2026 season will be the one where he can become a genuine midfield mainstay.