That's why the Giants' clash against the Western Bulldogs at Manuka Oval on Sunday is more than a round one fixture. It's the start of what the Giants hope will be a premiership journey.

Cameron has told his players to bury the pain of falling one game short of a grand final berth in the past two seasons to ensure they focus on being better this year.

The narrative suggests if they lift the premiership trophy this year, their success will have been handed to them on a silver platter.

But Cameron says the club's success would be the reward for a long and frustrating test of resilience.

"Guys are a year older, does that make them more experienced? Absolutely, because they just are naturally," Cameron said.

"But that doesn't guarantee one iota because there is new players that come into your footy team that will add and contribute to it.

"We don't look back. People think that we may look back but we don't look back. We try to keep learning and we look forward, that's all you can do in this game.

"There's no guarantees and we're one of 18 that starts our journey this week. We feel as though our pre-season has been good, we've done the work."

The Giants will look a little bit different this season at each end of the park, with Rory Lobb and Dawson Simpson looking to fill the void in left by Shane Mumford in the ruck.

Lachie Whitfield will look to provide the run off halfback the Giants lost through trades and injuries, joining Phil Davis, Adam Tomlinson and Heath Shaw in defence.

But at the club's core remains an exceptionally talented group of midfielders.

Led by the likes of All-Australians Dylan Shiel and Josh Kelly and co-captain Callan Ward, the Giants boast one of the most stacked midfields in the league.

"We feel as though when our midfield is playing in the manner that we want them to play, we're hard to beat," Cameron said.

"Obviously everyone is going to create their own pathway and Mummy created his pathway by being an aggressive ruckman, and no doubt that benefited our midfielders.

"[There is] an opportunity for those guys down back. The pressure is on for spots in the back seven.

"We see ourselves prepared and ready. We look forward to the challenges and we can't wait for them to come around."

The powerful Giants are a completely different beast to the one Cameron first took charge of in 2014.

The Giants won just three of their first 44 games under AFL legend Kevin Sheedy before Cameron steered the fledgling club to 17 wins in its next two seasons.

Two straight top four finishes have followed but Cameron doesn't think that means a premiership is simply a matter of "when".

"The proof is in the pudding when you get there," Cameron said.

"We start up again and we're nowhere near there because there is 22 weeks ahead of us. We feel as though our footy has been a lot more consistent over the last two years and it holds us in good stead to play good, consistent matches every week, but the challenge again lies ahead of us this weekend.

"We go down to Canberra and we want to win the game but to win the game we've got to do all the things we've put in place in pre-season really well. It's down to who does the basics really well, over and over again, for 120 minutes."

AFL ROUND ONE

Sunday: GWS Giants v Western Bulldogs at Manuka Oval, 1.10pm. Tickets from Ticketek. TV: Live on Fox Footy.