GWS will again hold fire on picking captain Stephen Coniglio as the star midfielder works his way back from a serious ankle injury.
The 27-year-old has not played in the AFL since round three but made his return through limited game-time in the VFL last week.
But the Giants will leave Coniglio to play reserves for at least another week after the club’s morale-boosting upset of Melbourne last Saturday.
“(Coniglio) played 63 per cent or something like that last week, ran about 10 kms, which was good,” GWS coach Leon Cameron said.
“He had a fair bit of the footy and his tackle pressure was fantastic.
“We’ll play him up to 80 per cent this week and give him a great opportunity to play another really good game of footy. We were rapt with his first week.
“Clearly he needs a bit more match fitness. Our plan is to get him back into our team when he’s ready.
“Those small glimpses last week was a really good positive step and we’d like to see more of that this week.”
Coniglio endured a difficult debut season as captain in 2020, as his form tapered away so much he became the first skipper to be dropped in 22 years and the Giants missed finals.
But injury-plagued forward Jesse Hogan is in contention to return for the Giants’ must-win clash with Gold Coast in Ballarat on Saturday.
The former Melbourne and Fremantle tall has not played since round nine but was a revelation in his only two games for GWS this year.
Hogan bagged two four-goal hauls in appearances against Adelaide and Richmond before succumbing to a calf injury.
GWS sit in eighth with a 7-7-1 record with seven home-and-away matches remaining.
AAP
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