Whitfield believes the Giants' window to claim a maiden AFL premiership will be consistently open for the next 10 years despite the loss of household names that left plenty thinking it had slammed shut.

Gone are elite midfielders Dylan Shiel and Tom Scully, so too Rory Lobb. But such is the calibre of their list, Whitfield believes the best is yet to come.

They still boast the likes of Callan Ward, Stephen Coniglio, Phil Davis and Toby Greene. Heath Shaw is going around again. Shane Mumford is back for another bite at the cherry. Rookies Jackson Hately and Jye Caldwell look ready-made.

The Giants will get a chance to prove themselves against Shiel's Essendon Bombers when the two sides lock horns at the Sydney Showground to open their AFL campaign on Sunday.

"The method when we started up as a club was to get the best talent through the door. In that case, when people leave, they’re still very good players and we’re getting high draft picks in return for them," Whitfield said.

"I believe our premiership window is going to be pretty consistently open over the next decade. We’re going to be bringing good young talent in, and we’ve got a good program which moulds them in the right way.

"I’m a pretty strong believer that we’ve got a pretty open window to potentially win a flag in the foreseeable future.

"It’s pretty obvious the new young talent we’ve got through the doors over the past few years is really starting to blossom.

"Tim Taranto has had two really good [pre-season] games, and we probably see a real breakout year coming from him. Aidan Bonar as well, he’s had a huge pre-season. Isaac Cumming and Brent Daniels are showing what they can do.

"That young brigade is really putting their hand up to showcase what they can do and play senior footy regularly."

Leon Cameron's brigade of youngsters have been thrown into the cauldron of senior football perhaps a little earlier than the Giants coach would have liked at times.

But it has been a necessity with the club hit by a debilitating injury crisis over the past few seasons which has cruelled their chances in September.

The injury curse has shown no signs of going away too early this year, landing an early blow with Giants co-captain Callan Ward set to be sidelined for up to a month with a knee issue.

Losing Ward means the Giants lose one of the most inspirational captains in the competition, one that has been at the helm of the expansion club since day one.

But he has never been alone in that role. It's at times like this Whitfield is especially glad the Giants have someone like Phil Davis helping to steer the ship.

"We’ve got some great leaders at this footy club. Phil is very dominant in his voice from behind the footy, but we’ve got great leaders around the ball as well in Stephen Coniglio," Whitfield said.

"It’s probably one area in which we don’t really lack, instructional voice. [Coniglio] had a seriously good year last year as well, I think he is just rolling on with that.

"He’s a top tier player in the competition and he should definitely be looked at in that way from the media and the people down in Melbourne.

"He does everything right on-field and off-field, he has always got his nose over the footy. I couldn’t expect a better leader than him."