Co-captain Phil Davis and versatile veteran Sam Reid return to the GIANTS line-up as the team to take on the Crows at Adelaide Oval on Sunday
Davis and Reid join debutant Sam Taylor as the club’s three inclusions for the trip to the City of Churches. Tim Mohr (shoulder), Matt Buntine and Dylan Buckley (omitted) are the outs.
Coach Leon Cameron welcomed the return of his co-captain, who has missed the past two matches since being concussed in round eight.
“No doubt we’ve missed his presence in the last couple of weeks when we need a good, safe head around and having him back in the side is going to be great for us,” Cameron said.
“It was unfortunate he missed a couple through that concussion but he’s well and truly over that.
“He’s having a really good year, he trained really well this week and no doubt he likes to go back and play on Adelaide Oval and take on his former team.”
Reid comes back into the side after a week out with a tight hamstring, providing Cameron with versatility in his line-up with the 28-year-old playing through the backline, midfield and up forward so far in 2018.
“He’s taking his opportunities and doing everything right,” the coach said.
“He was very tight last week with his hamstring, but he’s done everything right and trained well so he comes back in.
“He plays a really good role, he’s sort of been our go-to player because he plays back, forward or on the wing, so he’ll continue to fill some of those roles and we look forward to having him back in our squad as well.”
As announced on Thursday evening, young defender Sam Taylor becomes the club’s 89th GIANT and fourth debutant of the season.
The West Australian recently turned 19 and was selected by the GIANTS at pick 28 in last year’s NAB AFL Draft.
“He’s just really competitive, super competitive, loves to fight to the very end and he’s got some great traits that we really admire about him,” Cameron said.
“He’s super quick and spoils really well. No doubt he’ll be playing down in our back end, so we look forward to that.
“He’s only been here for eight months but the boys love playing with him, you can clearly see they love his competitiveness.”
The GIANTS take on the Crows on Sunday afternoon at Adelaide Oval with live coverage on 7mate in NSW and the ACT and Fox Footy nationally from
Adelaide v GIANTS
Adelaide Oval
FB: Sam Taylor, Aidan Corr, Adam Tomlinson
HB: Harry Perryman, Nick Haynes, Lachie Whitfield
C: Zac Langdon, Stephen Coniglio, Heath Shaw
HF: Tim Taranto, Jeremy Cameron, Jacob Hopper
FF: Jon Patton, Harry Himmelberg, Daniel Lloyd
RR: Rory Lobb, Dylan Shiel, Josh Kelly
Interchange: Sam Reid, Ryan Griffen, Phil Davis, Callan Ward
In: Phil Davis, Sam Reid, Sam Taylor (debutant)
Out: Tim Mohr (shoulder), Matt Buntine, Dylan Buckley (omitted)
Emergencies: Dawson Simpson, Matt Buntine, Dylan Buckley, Brent Daniels
