Toby Greene: GWS star confirmed to leave Giants, join Geelong

GWS captain Toby Greene has confirmed he wants out of the Giants, with the club’s most-capped player and all-time leading goalkicker declaring he has his sights set on heading to Geelong.

In an extraordinary way to announce the decision, outgoing GWS boss Dave Matthews confirmed Greene’s intentions on radio, before the club released a statement about the impending loss of arguably the biggest figure in the club’s short history.

Greene has been offered a lucrative three-year deal to join the Cats.

Speaking on SEN, Matthews said Greene was departing for family reasons and his legacy at the club was secure.

“He, along with (inaugural coach) Kevin Sheedy and others, gave us this resilience and character from day one,” Matthews said.

“The toughness that he exhibited - and even a lot of the tribunal indiscretions were retribution or looking after his teammates - he’s just one of the most loyal people you would ever meet.

“He has been loyal to a fault for 15 years and now he makes a decision for his family.”

Greene, a triple All Australian and dual club champion, played 282 games for the Giants while also being the modern-era AFL’s most cited player at the tribunal, facing 32 charges.

Greene, who turns 33 next week, is one of just two active inaugural Giants players still at the NSW club, alongside Stephen Coniglio.

He kicked 450 goals in 282 games for GWS, but will finish his career with former Giants teammate Jeremy Cameron in Geelong.

Matthews, who is departing his CEO role at season’s end, was unaware what compensation the Giants would receive under the AFL’s free agency model.

“I must admit, I don’t know how that works any more ... (but) it’s a significant offer, and it should be too,” Matthews said.

Greene agonised over his decision, which will disappoint Giants fans, Matthews said.

“The fact the decision dragged out reflects how torn he has been and how much he feels a part of the Giants,” he said.

“He’s a legend of the club ... it has been a really difficult one for him.”

But Greene’s decision didn’t surprise Giants hierarchy.

“You would have loved him to be a one-club player,” Matthews said.

“If somebody had said on draft night 2011 that Toby Greene is going to stay at the club 15 years and be an absolute star of the game ... to achieve it at the Giants and have such an amazing career on-field and be so important off-field to the Giants is significant.

“This decision hasn’t come out of the blue for us. We pretty much were expecting this might be the case.”