Where and When: Saturday August 21, Marvel Stadium, 7.40pm

Where to watch: https://www.afl.com.au/broadcast-guide-premiership

Last time they met: The GIANTS beat the Blues back in round 14, winning by 36 points in what has turned out to be the team’s last game at GIANTS Stadium for the season. The team set the win up by kicking five straight goals either side of the half time break, letting Carlton sneak back to within two kicks during both the third and final quarters before scoring five of the last six wins to guarantee the win and stay in touch with the top eight during what was an inconsistent stretch of the season. Tim Taranto and Jacob Hopper were busy around the ball, Jack Buckley kept Harry McKay quiet early. Jeremy Finlayson kicked five goals and Matt de Boer put the clamps on Sam Walsh. But if there is one thing from this match you probably remember, it’s this: Toby Greene’s 67-metre torpedo goal after the quarter-time siren

What it means for the GIANTS: For the third week in a row it’s easy: win, and the GIANTS get to play finals after missing out last season. Lose, and the team's fate will hinge on what clubs like Essendon, Fremantle, West Coast and St Kilda do in their matches.

Where’s the opposition at: The Blues have had a tough few weeks, losing game, falling out of the finals race and starting to lose players as well (McKay, Zac Williams, Jack Martin, Jack Silvagni, Liam Jones and co-captains Patrick Cripps and Sam Docherty, to name a handful). They still have plenty of talent in their side, starting with Walsh and Charlie Curnow, who has been reintroduced to their side in recent weeks after a long, long time out injured. They were very good early against Port Adelaide last week and led by 23 points midway through the second quarter before conceding 19 goals in a row to lose by 95 points. They’ll be looking to send Eddie Betts into retirement on the brightest possible note.

The number: 1. Tim Taranto had never kicked more than two goals in a game before he started forward against Richmond last week and picked up where Toby Greene had left off. His first-ever four-goal haul took him to 12 goals for the season, one better than his 11-goal effort in his best and fairest year of 2019. It also proved his versatility: just one week earlier against Geelong, with Greene there but Jacob Hopper, it was Taranto who set the tone in the midfield with his ball hunting and hard running.

In the mix: There’s a few. Skipper Stephen Coniglio got some run into his legs in a VFL scratch match last Friday and is ready to be considered again. So is Phil Davis, while Jake Riccardi went unused as the medical sub. Brayden Preuss has put himself back into the mix after recovering from the pec injury that threatened to end his season, but Kieren Briggs is also ready to be called upon again should Shane Mumford not get up. Competition for spots is tight after two really good performances but there’s at least one easy in: Greene, back from his one-week suspension.