"I love going back and seeing family and friends, but I love Sydney. That's why I'm sitting in the sun now. You don't get this in Melbourne at the moment."

Greene signed a six-year contract with GWS in 2018, kick-starting a trend of long-term deals that has been followed by fellow stars Stephen Coniglio, Josh Kelly and Lachie Whitfield.

"That's the plan," he said when asked if he'd like to play out his career at the Giants. "I love Sydney, I love the Giants, I've got no reason to leave. I'm one of Sydney's biggest advocates, so it'd be sort of hypocritical of me to leave."

Greene has had plenty of time to reflect on last year's finals series, which he described as 95 per cent positive from a team perspective, but "overwhelming" in a personal sense because of his two trips to the AFL tribunal for rough conduct.

He has come to realise that he will probably never shake his polarising reputation and has learnt to live with it.

"You sort of just become numb to it I guess," he said. "Maybe three or four years ago you'd take a bit more notice ... [but by now] I've been in most situations and had a lot of people talk about me, so it's not something I really care too much [about] to be honest.

"I probably will always be one of those players that's talked about, and I guess a lot of people like to watch me as well, so I take that as a positive."

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Indeed, there are swings and roundabouts. If Greene was arguably the most hated man in the AFL last September, today there is a fair bit of sympathy for him because of his treatment by umpires.

Pundits believe Greene has been treated harshly this year by the men in the middle because of who he is, with a number of blatant free-kicks not being awarded his way and other more borderline calls going against him.

Umpire Ray Chamberlain this week dismissed that theory out of hand, while Greene himself doesn't buy into it – although he did have a quiet chuckle at the crowd reaction to him being given a free-kick last week.

"I thought I was getting the bronx cheers, but I thought, 'I haven't played that bad, have I?'" he said. "Then I realised it was for the free-kick. I guess it's something that got played up a little bit, but it's not something I ever think about or ever taken into consideration, especially not in a game. I get a couple in front of goal that'd be nice, a bit of repayment."