Powerhouse midfield duo Tom Green and Stephen Coniglio are primed to cause trouble for Essendon in what will be a welcome boost for Greater Western Sydney.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
The Giants were already without Coniglio when they lost Green early in their disappointing 29-point derby defeat to Sydney last round.
Green left the ground in the first quarter after a tackle by Sydney's Hayden McLean on Finn Callaghan inadvertently caught his left ankle, while Coniglio was absent after the club opted to give him an extra week to recover from a small medial collateral ligament tear.
With Coniglio ready to go and subsequent scans clearing Green of structural damage, coach Adam Kingsley is confident his main ball-winners will be available to line up at Marvel Stadium on Saturday and celebrate club stalwart Callan Ward's 300th game.
"(Green) had a light run today, got through no problems from my assessment. We'll see how he pulls up this afternoon and tomorrow morning, but I would expect he plays," Kingsley said on Thursday.
"'Cogs' will be a reasonable inclusion. He'll be fit. He got through training today."
Fringe forward Conor Stone could be set for his first AFL appearance in over 390 days to fill in as a replacement for the suspended Callum Brown.
The Irishman will serve three weeks on the sidelines for a collision with Tom McCartin in the second quarter of the derby, which left the Swans defender concussed.
Stone trained with the senior team on Thursday after kicking three goals to go with 16 disposals in the VFL last round.
"His last month has been really strong. He's had really good games from a pressure perspective at VFL level and then being able to finish his work," Kingsley said.
"I think he might have good three goals each of the last three weeks, so he certainly put pressure on that forward-line group to come in and he's in good form."
Snatching a win against Essendon to celebrate Ward's milestone achievement will be an extra incentive for the Giants.
Ward, who grew up supporting the Bombers, admitted he thought he would hang up his boots soon after reaching 250 games in 2022, but he proved himself wrong.
"I said once I got to 250 (games), I was sure I wouldn't get to 300," Ward said on Thursday.
"I really wasn't enjoying my football once I got to that 250. I wasn't playing good football. We were losing games. It was really hard. It was a slog at the time."
"To be here now is really exciting. I think the club has really turned around in the last couple of years and the guys are really enjoy being here."
Drafted with pick No.19 in 2007, Ward played 60 games with the Western Bulldogs before making the move interstate as an un-contracted player in 2012.
He was named as one of the Giants' inaugural captains alongside Phil Davis and Luke Power and kicked the club's first-ever goal.
Ward will become the third person to reach the 300 games milestone for the Giants, joining Power and Heath Shaw.
"I was actually once playing one of those game box things and there was a trivia question that said 'Who kicked the first Giants goal?'," he said.
"I was the answer so I was pretty proud of that."
Australian Associated Press
