In a disjointed 2020, where almost everything else was tipped on its head, including the AFL season, the rhythms of the seasons on the land didn't change.

And family gatherings certainly aren't being taken for granted.

Perryman and his Greater Western Sydney teammates were even given an early mark to clear out of Sydney last week amid fears of a growing COVID-19 cluster.

"We rocked up to training on Friday and they kind of said, everyone just get home," Perryman said.

"It was a pretty good surprise actually. We just got on the highway and got home as quick as we could."

But the former Wagga schoolboy, and two-time Collingullie-Glenfield Park premiership player as a schoolboy, knew one season had been right out of whack. Spring.

While the AFL season pushed deep into October this year, the Giants were done in regular time after wrapping up their home-and-away season with three straight losses.

"It was a bit weird watching finals," Perryman said.

"Every year I've been at the club we've played finals so that was the first year that I've missed out.

"It was pretty hard, especially when you're watching Richmond do what they do.

"Obviously we're pretty jealous of them but we'll just try and get back there again."

Richmond, of course, didn't just win. They went back-to-back, having handed out a hiding to the Giants in the 2019 grand final.

Perryman doesn't believe that grand final had anything to do with the Giants' lacklustre 2020.

"I think (2019) was pretty well all gone," he said.

"I reckon a lot of the boys just didn't adjust to being away from home. Or whatever the reason was, we played some pretty bad footy at times.

"We definitely deserved not to play finals, the way we played, so I think it was a good reality check for us.

"We can crack in this pre-season hopefully and get back to playing finals."

He knows resilience is one of the building blocks of team success.

While the Giants had featured in four straight finals series from 2016 to 2019, and made one decider, this year's grand finalists were more than teams to watch. They are teams to match.

Richmond have missed the finals only once 2012, and won three of the last four premierships.

Geelong have finished outside the eight only once since 2006 (in 2010, they were one win short), and have won three flags in that time.

"You see all those good clubs, it doesn't matter where they are or how weird a year it is, those good clubs are still there playing finals," Perryman said.

"It's something that we've got to try to get back to. You see the Geelongs and Richmonds, they play finals every year, no matter what.

"It's tough... I don't know how they keep doing it. It's a credit to them."

Perryman admitted the uncertainty at the start of the year wasn't easy on anyone with the season in limbo for three months after round one.

"It was obviously a pretty weird year," he said.

"We played our first round way back in March and then they kind of said the next day, everyone go home.

"Then we had about eight weeks off. It was kind of hard to get back into a bit because you didn't know if the season was going to get going."

When it did finally he resume, he did settle in. Even as the team struggled for form, the 22-year-old thrived when the team went into interstate hubs.

It showed in his form. The wingman finished third in the club best-and-fairest, behind joint winners Nick Haynes and Lachie Whitfield.

Drafted in 2016, Perryman has now played 52 AFL games, 35 of them in the last two seasons.

"Not too bad," he said, cautiously, of his own season.

"This is my first year where I've had a full season so it was good to just play injury free and get some early form. I had a good pre-season and you gain a bit more confidence with each year you play and each game you play.

"It was good to put a consistent year together. It's just about trying to do that again. You set yourself up over your pre-season so I'll knuckle down over the next couple of months and hopefully it holds me in good stead."

Perryman is sticking to his fitness program on his Christmas break, travelling in to Wagga to train with mates in the morning, including ex-'Gullie teammate Matt Kennedy (now on the rookie list at Carlton).

Next season holds the possibility of a move into the midfield, although it remains a point of discussion for coach Leon Cameron and his assistants.

"We've got a new midfield coach, Mark McVeigh. He's pretty keen for me to push into the midfield a bit more and I've been trying to get him to tell Leon a bit," Perryman said.

"But he (Cameron) wants me to go back and then wing. I don't know, we'll see what happens."

Change is in the air at the Giants. Generational change almost, following the departure of foundation player, Jeremy Cameron, and Narrandera's Zac Williams, who'd been there for eight seasons (113 games).

"It definitely is... the two weeks we had training up in Sydney, it was a pretty different locker room," Perryman said.

"We picked up six new draftees as well so it's definitely a different vibe around the club. But I'm sure once we all get together, we'll start gelling a bit better as well.

"You definitely do miss those older boys but I think we've got some good young kids coming up."

Deniliquin's Will Shaw is one of them.

"I've been chatting to him a bit. He drives past our place on the way to Sydney.... I think we've got a good bunch of boys and I'm sure they'll go alright."

Cameron's departure is a big change to the Giants' forward line but Perryman is excited to see what former Fremantle forward Jesse Hogan can do in the role.

"I'm looking forward to playing with him. He's looking pretty fit and I reckon he should have a pretty big year. He moves pretty well at training," he said.

Perryman also believes young backman Isaac Cumming is one to watch.

A fellow 2016 draftee, the Broken Hill product has had an injury-plagued start to his career and Perryman is hoping he's on the verge of a breakout season.

The Giants are drawn to play St Kilda first up, on Sunday March 21 at home in Sydney.