Matt Flynn is back in, with GIANTS coach Leon Cameron declaring that the young ruckman will line up against bitter rivals the Western Bulldogs in their clash on Friday night.
That isn't the last of the tough selection calls for Cameron and the resurgent GIANTS, as more key players recover from injury and illness and push their claims, including prized recruit Jesse Hogan and reigning club champion Lachie Whitfield.
Flynn will return to the side at the expense of Shane Mumford, who turned back the clock with influential performances in the GIANTS' victories over Collingwood and crosstown rivals Sydney in the past two weeks.
Cameron has stuck to the line all season that Mumford wouldn't play three matches in a row, and confirmed the veteran ruckman would step out after two games and with only a six-day break between the win over the Swans and the upcoming clash with the Bulldogs.
"We'll play Matty Flynn. He gets a great opportunity to play against the Bulldogs ruckmen, [Tim] English and [Stefan] Martin," Cameron told reporters on Wednesday.
"We gave him a spell a few weeks ago, he'd had a big workload. He came back and played in the VFL last weekend and we thought he was in some really good form.
"I'd like to think the round one game was the true Matty Flynn. He had a fantastic debut in that St Kilda game, and we had 68 inside 50s."
Hogan is getting closer to making his GIANTS debut, after moving across from the Dockers in last year's Trade Period.
The key forward was training well and building strong fitness through the pre-season, until he injured a quad in February.
He's since returned to play three-quarters of a VFL practice match, and followed up with a full game and three goals in round one of the VFL last weekend.
"He's had two really good weeks, we're really rapt with how he's going," Cameron said.
""We are considering whether we play four talls. We like what Jake Riccardi did last week, and [Jeremy] Finlayson and [Harry] Himmelberg. We've done it in the past and we may do it again.
"It's a really good selection dilemma to have, because three or four weeks ago we were probably struggling in that area."
Star defender Whitfield is also close to starting his journey back to the team, as he recovers from a lacerated liver he copped in game simulation training in the pre-season.
Whitfield is set to return through the VFL, with Cameron saying the 2018 All-Australian and club champion might even play half to three-quarters of the reserves match against Footscray on Thursday night.
"He's a bit touch and go, but we'll have that discussion," Cameron said.
"But he should be playing footy within the next 14 days."
Harry Perryman is further down the road to recovery, and is expected to come straight back into the senior team to face the Bulldogs in Canberra.
"He's done remarkably well. When you're diagnosed with glandular fever, your heart is in your mouth and you're thinking 'how long will that be?'. But it'll be four weeks this weekend," Cameron said.
"He trained today [Wednesday] and he's probably going to get up for Friday.
"It's a great boost for us, we love having him in our back seven or up on the wing – he's got that flexibility to play both positions.
