All the key quotes from coach Leon Cameron’s weekly press conference ahead of the clash with Richmond at the MCG on Saturday.

On the GIANTS’ injuries

Phil Davis has obviously started his rehab, he’s probably still four to five weeks away. We know about Shane Mumford. Joel Patfull - He’s coming along really, really well so he might return a little bit earlier than first thought but until he actually gets out and trains with us … He’s running really well now, he’s starting to recover really well so on a positive note, that’s a good sign. Nick Haynes, his groins are still sort of playing up - We rested him a few weeks ago, he got up and played and then we thought he might have been ok over the bye but it’s a bit of an issue still and we have to make sure we look after the players’ welfare first and foremost. We feel as though he might benefit from at least another one, maybe two weeks, of just solid rehab before he starts his campaign. It’s disappointing because he’s had such a good year but it opens up another door for someone else. Stephen (Coniglio), he’ll train today so he’s a big chance to resume this week. He’s got to get through full training today, again if we feel as though he’s done that and ticked all the boxes then he’ll play on the weekend against the Tigers. And Jon (Patton) is progressing really, really well and there’s no doubt he’s probably ready to roll out in the next couple of weeks.

On coming off the bye

It’s interesting, you look at some sides who comes off the break not as sharp as they were before the break. We know that the last two games we played before the bye, in terms of form, weren’t as good as our first seven or eight weeks of the year. With our injuries, we did need the break to freshen up. The guys have trained really well on Monday, we expect a really robust session today leading into the Tigers game. We’re confident they’re going to come on Saturday really sharp and ready to roll.

On the GIANTS’ ruck stocks

There’s no doubt the Tigers have got some talls in their front half. (Ben) Griffiths and (Ty) Vickery give (Ivan) Maric a chop out in the ruck so they’ve got two there that can do that. Each week we’ll assess but there’s a great opportunity for those three (Rory Lobb, Andrew Phillips and Tom Downie) but also James Stewart. We tend to forget James has been playing that pinch-hitting ruck role in the forward line, he chopped out Mummy before he went down. Rory Lobb will continue to play in the ruck, he’ll play forward as well and we’ll work out whether we add Tom Downie or Andrew Phillips. Andrew’s probably missed three in a row because of his back and his rib - Last game he was selected to play and then we had the bye and he missed the week before that because he was the travelling emergency. He’s now missed a month of footy so we’re just probably working out whether he needs a game or two in the NEAFL to get back to that match-hardened.

On the ruck challenge

Rory Lobb’s 206cm and Andrew Phillips, he’s 205cm - they’re big boys and we feel as though they can get their hands on the footy. Maric is a really good ruckman, he’s a competitive ruckman and he’s probably in the top three or four ruckmen in the competition. Again it’s a big challenge but our midfielders will relish that. We’re not just talking about their ruck against our ruck, it’s our mids against their mids. (Dustin) Martin’s in great form, (Trent) Cotchin we know has been in good form all year and (Shaun) Grigg and these sort of guys - (Brett) Deledio - roll through there and (Anthony) Miles too so it’s a huge challenge for our five or six mids to not only bring Rory Lobb, bring Andrew Phillips, bring Tom Downie into the game in terms of their ruck work but nullifying those guys on the ground level where they’re very, very good at. We’re going to back our young rucks in. Yes, the centre bounce discrepancy against the Kangaroos wasn’t where we wanted to be at, and losing 20-4 was disappointing and probably did contribute to the game as we know but we feel as though we’ve doe a fair bit of work over the last week and a half. There’ll be times when our ruckmen will be beaten because their young in their ruck work and their craft but  there’s also going to be times where our young ruck will really shock the opposition ruckmen.

On the Tigers and their form

It’s a great challenge, we’re coming up against a side who are probably playing top-four footy. They’ve beaten Fremantle, they’ve beaten Sydney - They’re a good side and they’ve won five out of their last six. There clearly playing some fantastic footy under Damien Hardwick who’s coaching them really, really well so it’s a great challenge for us. Last time we went to the MCG we got to three quarter-time against Collingwood and we were down by about 16 points and we were right in the game. It was a great experience so the challenge for us is to make sure we get back on the bike early. The first 10 or 15 minutes is so important for us because you want to get over that bye week, get over the rustiness, get your second win, get some contests, get some tackles, get involved and away you go and get that energy up. Richmond have obviously played two games after their bye so they’re rolling now. We must make sure we get rolling early.

The GIANTS play Richmond at the MCG on Saturday at 1.40pm with live coverage on 7mate in NSW and the ACT and Fox Footy (channel 504) from 1.30pm. Follow the game live on the GIANTS Game Hub or keep up to date on Twitter and Facebook.