Finals might be out of reach for GWS but they will be nearing full strength when they look to upset their crosstown rivals in the Sydney Derby on Saturday.
The Giants expect Josh Kelly, Lachie Whitfield and Jesse Hogan to return for the clash that could provide some late-season joy while putting a dent in Sydney’s AFL top-four hopes.
Co-captain Kelly is recovering well from concussion sustained in the final moments against Brisbane in round 18, while key forward Hogan was rested last week after playing more matches this year (14) than he has in a season since 2018.
Star midfielder Whitfield missed the past two matches with a hip injury but should also return, while inside bull Tom Green was rested last week after a drop in form and is not certain to be recalled.
“Hogan was rested so you’d have to think he’ll be fine,” Giants coach Mark McVeigh said on Wednesday.
“Whitfield and Kelly will tick off some pretty hard stuff tomorrow. All those players are raring to go in terms of their attitude and wanting to put their hand up.”
The Giants also hope to have Harry Perryman available for selection after the 23-year-old suffered broken ribs against North Melbourne in round 13.
Perryman could come straight back into the senior team rather than through the VFL especially as the versatile midfielder, along with Whitfield, loom as crucial to the Giants’ hopes of matching the Swans’ ball movement.
“That’s a pretty significant injury that he got over so we need to make sure that he’s 100 per cent,” McVeigh said.
“He’s trained really hard for about a week and a half now and had a really big hit out on the weekend.
“We’d like to think that ‘Pez’ is one of our most professional players and if he feels comfortable and he looks well he’ll definitely be playing.”
The Giants are 15th with a 5-13 record and are set to miss finals for just the second time in the past seven seasons but are refusing to turn their focus to next year at least when it comes to selection.
Jarrod Brander has found form at VFL level but has only played five matches since arriving at the Giants earlier this year, while fellow big men Leek Aleer and Wade Derkson will both be hoping to make a late-season debut for a team suddenly stacked with tall options.
“At the moment we’ve got a lot of players that are unavailable that are on the smaller side, we’ve got a lot of tall players available and they’ve been playing quite well in the VFL,” McVeigh said.
“It’s all about the balance and how it looks for us. We won’t give a player a game just because there are only three or four games to go, we’ve got to make sure it suits us against the opposition.”
While the Giants have plenty of tall timber to choose from, the Swans are sweating on the fitness of Tom Hickey especially with prized recruit Peter Ladhams sidelined for another week following surgery on a broken thumb.
The veteran ruckman trained on Tuesday but will need to get through another session on Thursday to be declared fit to play.
