Veteran Steve Johnson is one of two inclusions for Saturday night’s do-or-die semi-final against the West Coast Eagles at Spotless Stadium.
Johnson returns to the side and will play his 25th final after missing last week’s loss to the Crows. First-year GIANT Tim Taranto will also come in to make his finals debut.
“Steve’s had a good couple of weeks on the training track and had a good hit-out last week so we look forward to him coming back into our team,” said coach Leon Cameron.
“There’s no doubt his experience does help but whether you’re Tim Taranto, playing in your first year, or Steve Johnson playing in your 16th year, it becomes irrelevant when the ball bounces.
"We’ve picked him because we feel as though he can make an impact to our footy team. Yes, he has experience but we picked him because we think he can have an impact.”
Last year’s number two draft pick, Taranto returns to the team for the first time since suffering an ankle injury in round 14.
“Tim’s now had three or four weeks of training and two games back and performed really well over in the Adelaide practice match,” Cameron said.
“There’s a number of guys who have been playing really well but we feel as though Tim can play a really good role for us on Saturday night.”
As revealed earlier in the week, ruckman Shane Mumford (foot) and Jeremy Cameron (hamstring) will be sidelined for the remainder of the season with injury.
Cameron knows how high the stakes are on Saturday night with the winner to face Richmond in a Preliminary Final while it’s season over for the loser.
The coach is looking forward to returning home to play at Spotless Stadium in front of the Orange Army for the first time in almost a month.
“I think the good thing about it is we get to play on our home deck. We played West Coast a few weeks ago there and it was a cracking game so we expect the same thing,” he said.
“There’s no doubt they played a great first-up final while ours was disappointing so we’ve got to make sure that we play four quarters.
“They’re a good team and they’ve had a lot of close losses this year and could have finished higher up the ladder.
“It means nothing now because it’s cut-throat. We go in knowing that if we don’t play four quarters we’re going to be in trouble so we look forward to that challenge.”
The GIANTS take on West Coast in a Semi-Final at Spotless Stadium on Saturday night at 7:25pm in the club’s final home game of the season with the winner to progress to a Preliminary Final.
Semi-Final
GIANTS v West Coast
Saturday September 16, 7:25pm
Spotless Stadium
GIANTS
FB: Nick Haynes, Aidan Corr, Zac Williams
HB: Heath Shaw, Phil Davis, Lachie Whitfield
C: Nathan Wilson, Josh Kelly, Tom Scully
HF: Jacob Hopper, Jonny Patton, Tim Taranto
FF: Matt de Boer, Harry Himmelberg, Toby Greene
RR: Rory Lobb, Stephen Coniglio, Callan Ward
Interchange: Adam Tomlinson, Dylan Shiel, Steve Johnson, Brett Deledio
In: Steve Johnson, Tim Taranto
Out: Shane Mumford (foot), Jeremy Cameron (hamstring)
Emergencies: Dawson Simpson, Harry Perryman, Sam Reid
EAGLES
FB: Tom Barrass, Eric Mackenzie, Brad Sheppard
HB: Elliot Yeo, Jeremy McGovern, Shannon Hurn
C: Lewis Jetta, Matt Priddis, Andrew Gaff
HF: Jack Redden, Jack Darling, Dom Sheed
FF: Mark LeCras, Josh Kennedy, Jamie Cripps
RR: Nathan Vardy, Sam Mitchell, Luke Shuey
Interchange: Sharrod Wellingham, Liam Duggan, Drew Petrie, Mark Hutchings
In: Sharrod Wellingham
Out: Luke Partington (omitted)
Emergencies: Chris Masten, Luke Partington, Will Schofield
