Coniglio returns to Giants' AFL side

Greater Western Sydney midfielder Stephen Coniglio will play his first AFL game of the year on Friday with the Giants also welcoming back co-captain Phil Davis.

He's got two of his prime movers back this week, but Greater Western Sydney AFL coach Leon Cameron is concerned about the mounting tally of long-term injuries on the Giants list.

Vice-captain Stephen Coniglio will bolster their midfield for Friday night's Etihad Stadium encounter with St Kilda, after being cleared to play his first game of the season.

Coniglio has recovered from an ankle injury, while co-captain and key defender Phil Davis is also back, after missing one match with a sore hamstring.

Most of the other injured Giants are set to miss even bigger chunks of football than Coniglio did.

Prize off-season recruit Brett Deledio still hasn't made his Giants debut due to a calf issue and the club has yet to nail down return date.

Another recruit, Tendai Mzungu, hasn't played since suffering a serious hamstring injury in round one and will be sidelined for another six to eight weeks.

That's the same period listed for both veteran midfielder Ryan Griffen and first-round draft pick Will Setterfield, both of who suffered ankle injuries last month.

This week, in-form key back Nick Haynes joined the ranks of the long-term casualties, ruled out for up to ten weeks with a hamstring problem.

Cameron's happiness at regaining leaders Davis and Coniglio was tempered by losing Haynes and forward Sam Reid, who will miss Friday's game with a hamstring issue.

"It's great to have them back, it's disappointing that you lose a few though,"Cameron said.

"It's like you get one and lose one, so it's disappointing with Haynesy being out for ten weeks.

"They are really long term injuries."

He said Coniglio would get his normal ration of minutes on Friday despite not being brought back through the reserves.

"We gave him an extra week, we needed to because this game is pretty brutal as we know, and so he needs to be able to get through four quarters," Cameron said.

Haynes's misfortune opened the door for young defender Harry Himmelberg to play his first senior game of the season on Friday.

Cameron said he hadn't spoken again to Toby Green about controlling his aggression after the feisty forward's two-match suspension earlier this week.

"We've moved on pretty quickly. It's disappointing for Toby and us, but he'll bounce back in a couple of weeks," Cameron said.


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Source: AAP



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