The GIANTS will consider bringing Lachie Whitfield straight into the senior team next week with the midfielder eligible to play after serving his AFL ban.

The No.1 pick from the 2012 NAB AFL Draft has been back training with the GIANTS since the middle of March but will be up for selection next weekend after completing his six-month suspension for breaching League rules. 

The 22-year-old hasn't played since starring in the GIANTS’ finals series last year, but with a raft of injuries hitting the club in recent weeks, coach Leon Cameron said Whitfield is right in the frame to face Collingwood at Spotless Stadium next Saturday.

"It will be an interesting one. He's done an enormous amount of running," Cameron said after the GIANTS’ surprise loss to St Kilda on Friday night.

"We'll get to Tuesday or Wednesday and have a good discussion. Is he fit enough? Absolutely. He has just an enormous aerobic capacity to keep on going. He's hungry and his attitude's been outstanding.

"We'll decide [whether he comes back immediately]. It's good that he's going to play AFL footy for us or NEAFL next week."

Whitfield agreed to serve a ban – which was under AFL rules but closely overseen by the Australian Sports Anti-Doping Authority – last November after a drawn-out process throughout last season.

His return to the GIANTS will be a boost for the club, which lost its second game of the season after falling away in the second half against St Kilda.

The Saints marched to victory with a six-goal-to-one last quarter, with Cameron lamenting his side being overrun and crediting his opposition for breaking the game open.

"It was an arm wrestle up until five minutes into the last quarter then they just took over," he said.

"We knew we were up for a fight, but within 10 minutes they put the game to bed, which is really disappointing from our point of view because we've prided ourselves on our last quarters.

"But we fumbled and lost the hunt…you'd have to say they wanted it a little bit more than we did." 

The GIANTS’ task was made tougher when Adam Kennedy suffered what looks set to be a season-ending knee injury in the first term, and they were left with just two players on the bench during the second quarter when Nathan Wilson underwent a concussion test.

Wilson returned to play well in the second half, but the GIANTS looked sluggish and even when they were ahead by 17 points in the third quarter still didn't appear to have total control of the contest.

Cameron said his group wasn't any more fatigued than the Saints, and that being a man down on the interchange was no excuse. He highlighted his team's midfield and clearance work as being an area for improvement in coming weeks.

"They came off a six-day break, and I understand your legs are always going to look a bit heavier when things aren't going your way," he said. 

"But that wasn't an excuse."