Emerging wingman Jacob Wehr believes the GIANTS can take their game to even greater heights this season as the club looks to build on last year’s record-breaking run.

Winners of 11 of their last 13 matches - including a club-record seven straight victories - the GIANTS stormed home last season to set up a mouth-watering preliminary final with Collingwood but fell short by a single point in a heartbreaking loss to the eventual premiers.

Wehr, who will be looking to cement himself in Adam Kingsley’s side this year after missing the majority of last season with a shoulder injury, believes the GIANTS are primed to take it up a notch in 2024.

“We laid the foundations last year and now it’s about adding a few blocks to that, and the boys have come back in tip-top shape and the energy each session is just getting better and better as the games are getting closer,” Wehr said.

“I think there’s no limit on what we can achieve this season.

“The foundations and the game plan are there, and we know that will get us a long way and now it’s about putting the icing on the cake and the boys taking their game up a level.”

The silky South Australian wingman said the training wheels were off this year with Kingsley’s game plan becoming second nature in the 2023 AFL Coach of the Year’s second season in charge.

“Last pre-season was a lot about game planning and installing that and this year it feels like we can just play footy,” Wehr said.

“It’s now a lot more instinctive and the boys can put their skills on show, which has been nice to see as there’s a lot of freedom in that, and I think we’ll go to a new level off the back of that.

“We are fit and healthy and the ball is zinging around so it’s a lot of fun at the moment.

“If we can add a couple of layers to last year then we are going to put ourselves in a very good position to go deep in finals again and hopefully we’ll be there on the last week of September.

“The confidence is high and all the boys can’t wait to put that on show, we just want to play footy.”

A mature-aged recruit out of the SANFL in 2020, Wehr claimed the GIANTS’ Rising Star Award in 2022 but managed just four games last year after breaking his scapula in a big collision with Eagle Liam Duggan in round two.

Now fully fit and firing, the 25-year-old, who was re-signed last season until the end of 2025, is itching to be part of a team that was less than a kick away from a grand final berth last season.

“I haven’t really missed much footy before, so it was tough being on the sidelines,” Wehr admitted.

“Seeing what the boys did, you just want to be part of it.

“Sitting in the stands in front of 100,00 people [against Collingwood in the prelim] was surreal, I’d never experienced anything like that and you’d get goosebumps when the boys run out or after a goal was kicked.

“Everyone on the sidelines wants to be a part of that and seeing the success the boys had just gives me extra motivation to try and be there this year so I’ll be doing everything I can to be in that side and I’m sure there’ll be 44 other blokes that’ll be doing the same.”

Working on his game alongside midfield coach, and Adelaide Crows legend, Ben Hart, Wehr is hoping to press his claims for a spot on the wing in Kingsley’s 22 come the inaugural Opening Round clash on March 9 against the Magpies.

“Playing in Opening Round would be fantastic,” he said.

“We start ‘match sim’ at training on Friday then we play the Swans in three weeks so it’s about budling up to that.

“The boys will be putting their skills on show as everyone wants to be playing in those pre-season games and in Opening Round so competition for spots will be tight but it’ll bring the best out of us and put us in a good spot for the year.

“I think I have a lot to offer the team on the wing, so for me I’ll just keep trying to add strings to the bow and hopefully that wing spot is there come Opening Round.

“I’m very thankful to the club for the faith they’ve shown in me and so now I’m trying to repay them and play some good footy early in the year.”

The GIANTS will play a match simulation against the Swans in Sydney on Thursday, February 22 followed by an official pre-season clash with the Suns in Canberra on Thursday, February 29.

The 2024 Toyota AFL Premiership Season will then get underway with the inaugural Opening Round, with the GIANTS to host the reigning premiers Collingwood at GIANTS Stadium on Saturday, March 9 at 7.30pm.