From Lleyton Hewitt to Betty Cuthbert, Greater Western Sydney coach Kevin Sheedy spent much of the off-season thinking outside the coaches’ box to make a point to his young charges.

Leon Cameron may have been head engineer of the Giants’ revamped gameplan, but Sheedy was chief motivator during many of the summer’s video sessions.

It wasn’t vision of reigning premiers Sydney or premiership favourites Hawthorn being analysed, but instead the likes of tennis stars Hewitt and Roger Federer.

“The great thing about Lleyton Hewitt is that you know you’re going to get a game,” Sheedy told AAP.

“Pound for pound, he’s just a ripper Australian person.

“The great meme of Lleyton is he’s a competitor. Not only every single point, but every single moment. Every single second.

“We need to make sure our players understand that is the sort of competitors we need. You’d love to get his spirit into my players.”

And Sheedy did everything in his power to make that happen while the Australian Open was running.

“You’d (also) look at Federer. When the pressure is on he lifts, simple as that. We had some different edits shown to the players.

“We’ll use anything to get a message through to younger players.”

It’s a refreshing approach in the modern age of microanalysis, but nothing new for Sheedy.

“I think you’ve got to blow it up every now and then,” he said.

“I’ve always done that (used non-AFL figures and footage) and when I see my coaches and assistant coaches using those methods – I know they’re on the right track.”

Sheedy nominated Olympic golden girls Debbie Flintoff and Betty Cuthbert as two other Australians that epitomise want he wants from the Giants.

The Giants spent some of their pre-season training at the Sydney Olympic Park athletic centre, which has a grandstand named in honour of Cuthbert.

“Most of them (the GWS youngsters) won’t have (heard of them),” Sheedy said.

“Cuthbert – missing the Rome Olympics basically because of injury after a magnificent performance in `56. She comes out of retirement to win in Tokyo, that’s something.

“One I always used to use was (Flintoff at the 1988 Olympics) … she’s behind every step of the way until the very last moment, and she wins the gold medal.

“That spirit is fantastic. That’s what you want.”