The challenges facing the 32 youngsters who are already contracted with fledgling AFL club Greater Western Sydney are varied and plentiful, but coach Kevin Sheedy says his inexperienced charges are handling them all with aplomb.

Aside from rugby league convert Israel Folau, 28 teenagers, a 20-year-old and a pair of 23-year-olds have all started the transition from AFL hopefuls to AFL footballers under Sheedy.

It can be a difficult journey at the best of times, let alone when you have the added pressure of playing in a club's maiden season without any form of on-field veterans.

Having watched the likes of Mark Thompson, Mark Harvey, James Hird and countless others make the transformation from raw talent to seasoned professional at Essendon, Sheedy knows the process all too well.

It's just a little bit different when the entire team is making those steps at the same time," Sheedy told AAP.

"In many ways it's like coaching an Under-19 team. Some people in the press don't understand that yet, and some people in the AFL probably don't understand that.

"We really are a very young group of players, coached by extremely experienced men.

"So we make sure they are embracing what is a huge step in their life, not just their footy career, and I think we're getting through that quite well."

With the exception of Folau, who is based with his parents, the players live together in an apartment complex in the suburb of Breakfast Point.

The friendships currently being formed in the units could be crucial in a few seasons when the Giants' young guns become trade targets.

"Some of them are off farms, some are from fishing villages in Western Australia and small country towns from across Australia," he said.

"So we've got a lot of guys from different walks of life. It reminds me a little bit of when I was in national service, where you went and lived in a hut and had 20-year-old kids from all over Australia come together.

"You really wanted to talk about where you're all from, what they do, how they live over there.

"This year's been a real good connection, a lot of them are having their 18th birthdays and getting their car licences."

It hasn't been a wholly smooth process though.

"One or two want to go home, I normally let them go because there's an urgency about it," Sheedy said.

However the man who spent 27 years coaching the Bombers won't be adopting Gold Coast's policy, in-which the Suns allow and encourage their players to spend extra time away from the club.

"Other than that (those suffering from homesickness), you don't need to be running home all the time.

"We give them breaks, obviously there was Easter and there's a long weekend coming up soon. There'll be a couple of byes so that'll be good for them."

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