The GIANTS have added 625 games of experience to their Elimination Final side with four big inclusions to take on the Swans at the SCG on Saturday.
Toby Greene, Brett Deledio, Matt de Boer and Zac Williams come in for Jeremy Finlayson, Lachlan Keeffe, Daniel Lloyd and Aiden Bonar.
Williams will play his first AFL game of the season after rupturing his achilles in the pre-season, but coach Leon Cameron has no doubts he’s ready.
“It’s a really good story and it’s not as if we’ve rushed him back, he’s just been on schedule,” Cameron said.
“He’s been training for six weeks … he’s played two games. If there was another NEAFL game this weekend he wouldn't be playing, he’d be playing AFL.
“We’re really confident he’s ready to go, it just happens to be a final.”
Greene (hamstring), de Boer (hamstring) and Deledio (calf) all return for their first game since round 20 after overcoming their respective injuries.
Cameron is keen to get star forward Greene back into the side after an interrupted season.
“We’ve trained him really, really hard,” Cameron said.
“He probably could have played the Melbourne game, but we just wanted to give him an extra couple of weeks of training.
“He’s in really good shape but there’s no doubt at times he’s going to be a little bit rusty, but it’s actually been his best block for the entire year, so we’re confident he can have an impact on Saturday.”
De Boer returns to add 166 games of leadership experience.
“Matt’s had a really, really good solid year and played a lot of footy,” Cameron said.
“His last six or seven weeks have been a little bit interrupted and he probably could have played the Melbourne game as well, but we gave him an extra couple of weeks of training.
“He’s naturally a really fit guy, he plays a lot of game time and that will be no different this week.”
Veteran Brett Deledio has also been given the green light to line up for his 260th AFL game.
“Brett’s had some interruptions but the way he’s moved over the last three weeks has just been terrific and we’re confident that he can make an impact.”
Aidan Corr (groin), Ryan Griffen (hamstring) and Sam Taylor (hamstring) missed the cut for this week’s game with coach Cameron hopeful the trio could come into contention should the GIANTS progress past this week.
“With Ryan and Aidan, we’ve decided to give them another week,” Cameron said.
“Ryan trained really well yesterday but we just feel he needs another week and Aidan is in the same boat. Those two will train really hard on Saturday before we play the Swans.
“Sam Taylor was just a bit slower than the other two. You probably could have rushed them back, but it would have been a bit risky.”
Having faced the Swans in round 22, Cameron is under no illusions about what his side will face come 4:20pm on Saturday afternoon at the SCG.
“It’s simple, sometimes we try to find different angles for the game but it’s really simple and it’s just who cracks in for longer,” he said.
“We look forward to it because we’re coming up against a heavyweight in finals footy, we played them a couple of weeks ago and fell short in the final quarter, so we need to find that extra bit to make sure we get over the line.
“Our players are looking forward to it, we know it’s a huge challenge … but we don’t do pre-season and play 22 home and away games for nothing, this is what players really want to play for.”
Elimination Final
Swans v GIANTS
Saturday, September 8 at 4:20pm
SCG
FB: Matt Buntine, Phil Davis, Harry Perryman
HB: Adam Tomlinson, Nick Haynes, Adam Kennedy
C: Lachie Whitfield, Stephen Coniglio, Josh Kelly
HF: Sam Reid, Harry Himmelberg, Matt de Boer
FF: Toby Greene, Jeremy Cameron, Zac Langdon
RR: Rory Lobb, Callan Ward, Dylan Shiel
Interchange: Brett Deledio, Zac Williams, Jacob Hopper, Tim Taranto
In: Toby Greene, Brett Deledio, Matt de Boer, Zac Williams
Out: Jeremy Finlayson, Lachlan Keeffe, Daniel Lloyd, Aiden Bonar (omitted)
Emergencies: Aiden Bonar, Isaac Cumming, Lachlan Keeffe, Daniel Lloyd
