The Giants host the Saints with both sides looking to rebound after heavy defeats last week.

Match Details

• Who: GWS Giants vs St Kilda Saints
• When: Sunday 21 May, 4.40pm AEST
• Where: Giants Stadium, Sydney
• Weather: min 9, max 20. 10% chance of rain
• Click here to buy tickets
• All time head-to-head record: Played 12. Giants 5 wins. Saints 7 wins.

Teams

Giants

IN: Jake Riccardi, Kieren Briggs, Toby Greene

OUT: Callan Ward (sub), Callum M. Brown (omitted), Daniel Lloyd (omitted), Matt Flynn (omitted)

The Giants get a huge boost with their star skipper Greene returning from injury. Riccardi and Briggs also come in with Brown, Lloyd and Flynn all dropped.

Saints

IN: Jade Gresham, Jimmy Webster, Max King

OUT: Ben Paton (omitted), Cooper Sharman (omitted), Jack Bytel (omitted), Tim Membrey (injured)

The Saints get a couple of handy inclusions with King and Gresham returning to the 22, while they have also dropped three after last week.

Click here to see the complete team line-ups.

Season so far

GWS 15^th – 85.4% | 723 points for | 847 points against| 3 wins & 6 losses | LLWLW

Sitting in the bottom four, the Giants slim finals hopes look all but shot after their 65-point loss to the Magpies last week.

GWS matched the Pies in a number of areas last week, but they just couldn’t stop Collingwood from scoring and struggled to hit the scoreboard when they went forward.

Adam Kingsley would’ve be disappointed by his side’s lack of defensive pressure throughout the contest, with the Giants laying just 29 tackles for the match, well below their 2023 average of 54.9.

Back at home, the Giants will be looking to atone for their poor performance last week with a win against a good side.

St Kilda 5^th – 120.8% | 719 points for | 595 points against | 6 wins & 3 losses | LWLWL

The Saints have been one of the surprise packets of 2023, but are coming off their first poor performance of the season, a 52-point loss to the Crows.

They have been a super competitive team under Ross Lyon so far this year, so it’s fair enough to give them a mulligan for last week’s effort.

Like a typical Lyon-coached side, the Saints are the number one defensive ranked side in the AFL, conceding just over 66 points per game.

It’s easy to forget the Saints were sitting in the top four at this stage last year and ended up missing finals, so if they really are a different team in 2023, they should respond strongly to last week.

Last 5 meetings and Giants Stadium History

• 2022 round 6: Giants 8.12 (60) lost to Saints 10.17 (77) at Manuka Oval
• 2021 round 1: Giants 11.12 (78) lost to Saints 13.8 (86) at Giants Stadium
• 2020 round 18: Saints 12.10 (82) defeated Giants 3.12 (30) at Gabba
• 2019 round 7: Giants 18.6 (114) defeated Saints10.10 (70) at Manuka Oval
• 2018 round 19: Giants 13.8 (86) defeated Saints 8.13 (61) at Giants Stadium

The Saints have won three in a row against the Giants, including a 17-point victory in Canberra last year.

That game ebbed and flowed throughout the night, with the Saints starting well before GWS hit back. St Kilda managed to grab momentum again during the third quarter and held on for victory.

These two sides have only met at Giants Stadium three times, with GWS holding a 2-1 advantage over the Saints.

Pre-match predictions

Hunter the collector: Hunter Clark to rack up a season high 28 touches in a win. Saints by 14.

Canberra’s finest: Tom Green to get the better of Jack Steele in the battle of the best Canberrans in the AFL.

Have any pre-match predictions of your own? Let us know in the comments below