Defensive stalwarts Nick Haynes and Matt Buntine will head west with the GIANTS side to take on the West Coast Eagles at Optus Stadium on Saturday evening.
Haynes returns ahead of schedule after a back complaint over the summer while Buntine earned his spot back after narrowly missing selection last week.
“Nick played 70 per cent of the NEAFL practice match last week,” said coach Leon Cameron.
“We were probably expecting him back round three but we feel as though he had a good four or five weeks of training and played that game so we look forward to having him back in our back seven.
“He’s clearly a very, very good defender and he’s looking forward to playing.
“Matt has been in really good form, he defends really well. Those two guys will spend time down in the backline but equally they have the flexibility to be switched around.
“He thoroughly deserves to play this weekend.”
The duo return for Harry Perryman (lung) and Toby Greene (calf) while midfielder Josh Kelly will spend another week building up his training loads after off-season hip and knee surgeries.
“In the end I think clearly the high performance guys wanted to give him another week so we’ve got to listen to that decision,” said Cameron.
“I think Josh was more keen to play than what they were, Josh clearly wants to play AFL footy as quickly as he possibly can so he’d be disappointed he’s not playing this weekend but our high performance guys have said they’d like to give him another week before he plays.”
As revealed earlier in the week, Perryman will miss several weeks after a courageous collision in the second quarter of last week’s win over the Bombers left him in hospital with a punctured lung.
Cameron has opted not to risk Greene for the trip to Perth after the forward pulled up sore following Sunday’s match.
“He’s a bit sore in his calf so we’re not going to take him over,” Cameron said.
“He pulled up a little sore cramping-wise in the last 10 minutes of the game, he was very tight so he’s not going to play this weekend.
“With a six-day break, we can’t risk him and we hope he’s right and ready to go next week.”
Journeyman Lachie Keeffe has recovered from a knee injury suffered in round one with the key defender swung forward and finishing the game with three goals.
The former ‘Pie will line up for his 50th AFL match, a milestone he forgot about until later in the week.
"There’s no doubt it was a nasty incident, he’s very, very lucky but it’s pulled up really well,” Cameron said.
“He’s trained, he’s confident, he wants to play, he thinks he’s ready to go so we back him in."
Cameron is under no illusions about the task facing the GIANTS with the reigning premiers to unfurl their premiership flag pre-game as they also get set to mark milestones to captain Shannon Hurn (250 games), Josh Kennedy (200 club games) and Chris Masten (200 games).
“We know we’re in a different environment, we’re in a hostile environment and sometimes if you ignore that and don’t acknowledge that then you wish you did when the game’s finished,” Cameron said.
“We know it’s going to be different, there’s going to be 50,000 people and the majority will be West Coast Eagles fans.
“But there’s still two goal posts and two point posts at either end and the ball will go up and the game will be played at a frenetic pace.
“Our last two trips to Perth have been really fruitful for us, we’ve won and we’ve be beaten by 10 points so we feel as though we’re in really good shape.
“We understand it’s a huge task … but we feel as though our players are in a good mindset and are keen to challenge the best side in the competition.
“We want that challenge and it gives you an indication of where you’re at early in the season.”
Round 2
GIANTS v West Coast
Saturday March 30 at 5:10pm WST/8:10pm EDT
Optus Stadium
FB: Heath Shaw, Phil Davis, Adam Kennedy
HB: Zac Williams, Jeremy Finlayson, Matt Buntine
C: Tim Taranto, Jacob Hopper, Lachie Whitfield
HF: Daniel Lloyd, Jeremy Cameron, Brett Deledio
FF: Brent Daniels, Harry Himmelberg, Sam Reid
RR: Dawson Simpson, Stephen Coniglio, Matt de Boer
Interchange: Sam Taylor, Nick Haynes, Adam Tomlinson, Lachlan Keeffe
In: Nick Haynes, Matt Buntine
Out: Toby Greene (calf), Harry Perryman (lung)
Emergencies: Jackson Hately, Isaac Cumming, Matt Flynn, Nick Shipley
