The first Virgin Australia squad selection of the season is in and there’s plenty of news ahead of the GIANTS’ blockbuster clash against Essendon at home on Sunday afternoon.
Midfielder Josh Kelly will miss the clash with the Bombers with coach Leon Cameron opting to give the star another week of training after an interrupted back end of the pre-season.
Cameron forecast the omission before training earlier on Thursday with Kelly building back up after off-season knee and hip surgeries.
“We never planned to play him in any of the JLT Community Series, we thought about playing him for a half in the intraclub, but he didn’t,” he said.
While Kelly will spend another week building up his fitness, the GIANTS have plenty of new faces that could line up against the red and black on Sunday afternoon including potential debutant Jackson Hately.
Hately joins youngsters Isaac Cumming and Matt Flynn on the extended interchange while second-year forward Brent Daniels is confirmed to take on the Bombers.
Harry Perryman will start on the wing while Sam Taylor lines up at centre half-back.
GIANTS fans will see Zac Williams and Lachie Whitfield start in the same backline after glimpses across last year’s finals series while Dawson Simpson leads the ruck division.
Co-captain Callan Ward misses with the knee injury he sustained in the JLT series while Nick Haynes is continuing to build up his fitness after back soreness across the pre-season.
Cameron said he was pleased with the availability of the group as he heads into the huge match.
“This week we'll have our 22 playing and around 16 to 17 playing in our practice match in the NEAFL. So that's about 39 players of our 46 and four or five of those guys aren't far away.
“But it's all about what happens in the first part of the year.
“We're confident, we're rapt with our pre-season but now we have to back it up.”
While there’s some new faces in the GIANTS side, there’ll be some familiar ones in opposition colours with Devon Smith and Dylan Shiel to return to where they once called home.
“It's like anything, if you worry about ex-players too much you take your eye off the ball,” Cameron said.
“You’ve got to acknowledge their strengths and what they're good at and there's a lot of them.
“We've got to look forward and move on we get to see Jacob Hopper and Tim Taranto play a lot more midfield time, and getting their opportunities. We're really confident that our mids can stand up to their mids.
“Will those guys be a bit nervous coming back to their old ground? Probably, but the ball bounces and it's on.
“Our guys just want to play. I expect it to be a really good hard contest, a cracking contest.”
The final team will be named on gwsgiants.com.au at 5pm on Friday.
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Round One
GIANTS v Essendon
Sunday March 24 at 3:20pm
Sydney Showground Stadium
Squads
GIANTS
FB: Heath Shaw, Phil Davis, Zac Williams
HB: Adam Kennedy, Sam Taylor, Lachie Whitfield
C: Adam Tomlinson, Tim Taranto, Harry Perryman
HF: Brett Deledio, Harry Himmelberg, Brent Daniels
FF: Toby Greene, Jeremy Cameron, Daniel Lloyd
RR: Dawson Simpson, Stephen Coniglio, Jacob Hopper
Interchange (from): Jackson Hately, Isaac Cumming, Matt Buntine, Matt de Boer, Lachlan Keeffe, Matt Flynn, Jeremy Finlayson, Sam Reid
Essendon
FB: Adam Saad, Patrick Ambrose, Conor McKenna
HB: Mitch Brown, Michael Hurley, Jordan Ridley
C: David Zaharakis, David Myers, Dylan Shiel
HF: Dyson Heppell, Jake Stringer, Mark Baguley
FF: Zach Merrett, Shaun McKernan, Orazio Fantasia
RR: Tom Bellchambers, Kyle Langford, Andrew McGrath
Interchange (from): Matt Guelfi, Devon Smith, Aaron Francis, Anthony McDonald-Tipungwuti, Brandon Zerk-Thatcher, Darcy Parish, Zac Clarke, Jayden Laverde
