AFL ladder leaders Geelong will be forced to reshuffle their defensive unit for their clash with GWS after losing key tall Lachie Henderson to a foot injury.
Henderson missed the first two rounds as he worked back to full fitness from a knee injury and is set to miss up to three matches after straining a plantar fascia in the win over the Crows at Adelaide Oval on Thursday night.
The important defender's loss is ill-timed with Giants star forward Jeremy Cameron set to visit GMHBA Stadium for Saturday's clash coming off a stellar seven-goal performance.
"It's unfortunate for Lachie and for us because he'd been in good form in the VFL, found his way into the AFL team and played well for us," coach Chris Scott told reporters on Wednesday.
"But discretion is the better part of valour with this one.
"He's going to be important to us later in the year. With those injuries, even if it's possible to play with them, they can tend to drag on.
"We had that experience with Harry Taylor last year, so we're going to be conservative.
"It's not overly serious but the risk of it dragging on and impeding him throughout the season is too great to play him prematurely."
In better news, star on-baller Tim Kelly is set to play after overcoming what appeared to be a nasty ankle injury, with Mark O'Connor (hip) also fit to keep his spot.
Scott has a few selection options as he looks to maintain his side's unbeaten start to the season, with Cam Guthrie (calf), Zach Tuohy (knee) and Jack Henry (hamstring) all pressing their claims after injury layoffs.
However, luckless speedster Nakia Cockatoo's frustrating run continues.
The 22-year-old hasn't played since round three last season thanks to knee surgery and hamstring issues and will be sidelined for the foreseeable future.
"Nakia is still a little bit longer term," Scott said.
"He's doing some training but he's not close enough for us to be definitive on his return-to-play status.
"The big picture issue is that he's recovering from a PCL injury that he had surgery on last year.
"There are some examples of players with PCL injuries who take longer than expected to recover and he just appears to be one of them."
