Young ruckman Tom Downie will play his first game of the year as Shane Mumford’s replacement for the GIANTS’ clash with Essendon at Etihad Stadium on Sunday.
The GIANTS finalised their team on Friday with two changes to the side that beat cross-town rivals the Swans by 42-points in round 12.
Downie comes in to replace Mumford (ankle) while GIANTS Academy graduate Matt Kennedy comes in on debut as a replacement for Steve Johnson (foot).
“Tom Downie’s been in some really really good form and we look forward to seeing Tom take his chance,” coach Leon Cameron said.
“At the back half of last year we saw some great progress in the ruck when he played.
“He had a bit of a slow start because of his pre-season, he missed probably six weeks of pre-season, but for about seven or eight weeks now he’s played some really good footy forward and also obviously in the ruck.
“It’s a big challenge for Rory Lobb and Tom to take on the ruck against Matthew Leuenberger and Mark Jamar so the guys look forward to it and we look forward to seeing how they go.”
The GIANTS travel to Melbourne for Sunday evening’s clash and with a two wins from five games on the road, Cameron is looking for a strong performance from his side et Etihad Stadium.
“We’ve been better on the road this year, we’ve sort of got better and better each year but it’s a new set of challenges this week,” he said.
“We’ve been competitive on the road the last two weeks but haven’t got the job done so we need to go down and win the game.
“But Essendon are going to be saying exactly the same thing so it’s a big challenge like every week.
“We say it every week but that’s the cold, hard facts so our 22 need to be switched on for this game.”
The sixth placed GIANTS travel to Melbourne to take on the 18th-placed Essendon on Sunday afternoon at Etihad Stadium.
Essendon v GWS GIANTS
Sunday June 19, 4.40pm
Etihad Stadium, Melbourne
FB: Phil Davis, Joel Patfull, Nick Haynes
HB: Heath Shaw, Matt Buntine, Nathan Wilson
C: Lachie Whitfield, Callan Ward, Sam Reid
HF: Josh Kelly, Jonny Patton, Matt Kennedy
FF: Dylan Shiel, Jeremy Cameron, Tom Scully
RR: Rory Lobb, Toby Greene, Ryan Griffen
Interchange: Stephen Coniglio, Tom Downie, Zac Williams, Jacob Hopper
In: Matt Kennedy, Tom Downie,
Out: Steve Johnson (foot), Shane Mumford (ankle)
Emergencies: Harry Himmelberg, Daniel Lloyd, Jack Steele
