Tom Scully had a sense of how difficult it would be to move to a new city to play for a new club. Never mind the vitriol levelled at the 2009 No.1 draft pick for joining Greater Western Sydney on a lucrative six-year deal instead of staying at the Demons. The reality of where he chose to go was that more would be expected of him at a younger age than at any other club he could have gone to.

You have to remind yourself that Scully is still budding. He turns 24 on Friday.

In his 92 AFL games since 2010, he has grown up fast, particularly after coming to GWS. At the easybeat club, as it was back then, he took on a senior role when most others his age would have been putting their energy into establishing themselves.

Some believe it stifled his progress. There have been no shortage of critics. But the freedom with which Scully appears to have played amid the Giants' 4-2 start to 2015 points to a sizeable weight starting to lift off his shoulders.

"There was more responsibility on me back then," says Scully, whose unchanged Giants play Carlton at Etihad Stadium on Saturday. "Particularly in the first couple of years there wasn't a great deal of experience around the club. We had some older guys - [Chad] Cornes, [Dean] Brogan, [James] McDonald, [Luke] Power - but it fell away pretty quickly after that. Myself, Cal Ward, Rhys Palmer, Phil Davis, these types of guys, we were only 20 or 21 ourselves. And there was a bunch of guys around us who hadn't even played AFL."

Many of the uninitiated are now hovering around the 50-game mark. They are fitter, stronger, have a better understanding of themselves and their teammates and are learning more each day about the demands of elite football.

They have been joined by a new core of experienced players - Ryan Griffen and Joel Patfull this season and Shane Mumford and Heath Shaw last year.

The result is that Scully can keep tilting the balance back towards developing his own game instead of those of the players around him. "I suppose, in a way," he says when asked if he feels more freedom now.

"Coming up here originally, I knew it was going to be tough for the first couple of years, just purely because of where the list was at and to start a club from scratch is obviously a tough gig on and off the field. But I think the transformation of the group over the last four years has been phenomenal, the way the guys have grown into themselves.

"Guys have come and gone but everyone's contributed along the way in some shape or form. I think it's particularly satisfying for those of us who have been here from the very start, to see the club grow and to see where we're getting to."

Scully described his form this year so far as "pretty solid" and said he felt comfortable with his role. He said it was "a lot easier playing in the team" than previously because of his teammates' increased maturity. The knowledgeable recruits, he added, had helped the team balance.

Coach Leon Cameron said Scully was the side's best defender, but the team's overall growth was allowing him to show more of his other talents.

"Now that we're moving the ball a little bit better and playing a better brand because we're a year older and we understand the systems that we have in place, Tom's now probably benefiting a bit more in an offensive way," Cameron said. "It's pleasing that he's in a good patch of form."

Scully has no regrets about enduring the club's formative years. He says it's been an "amazing journey" with so much more to achieve.

"I don't look back on the move with any regret at all. I made a decision and haven't looked back. I've made a new life in Sydney, I'm really happy here. I'm really settled on and off the field. It's been a massive move coming here, but it's one that's given me great fulfilment."