JEREMY Cameron's stop-start season has taken another hit, with the key forward in a race to prove his fitness ahead of Sunday's clash with Carlton.
Cameron sustained an ankle injury in last week's win over the Brisbane Lions, spotted by AFL.com.au in a moon boot at the club's base on Thursday morning while his teammates trained at nearby Spotless Stadium.
The 21-year-old enjoyed a stunning 2013 season, kicking 62 goals to finish third in the Coleman Medal and earn All Australian honours.
But this year he has already carried a separate ankle problem for a number of weeks earlier in the season before suffering a perforated ear drum that prevented him from flying for a month.
Cameron has still kicked 23 goals from his 10 games, including four against the Lions, but could be missing as the Giants shoot for back-to-back wins for the first time in their history against the Blues.
"Jeremy is probably about a 70-30 chance to play this week," coach Leon Cameron said after training on Thursday.
"He hurt his ankle early in the third quarter last week. He kept on playing, came off a couple of times, but we were really cautious with it.
"It's a different ankle (to the one he hurt earlier in the year), but we saw him struggle for three or four weeks leading up to the bye with an ankle.
"So we're really mindful of making sure we get this right so it doesn't turn into a four- or five-week injury.
"We have to remember he's only in his third year, so I don't want to wreck him. I'd love him to play this week, but if he's not right, he won't play."
The Giants have shown some strong form in recent weeks, pushing Hawthorn and Essendon all the way and then belting the Lions by 45 points.
Leon Cameron says the club has worked hard on the defensive side of its game and looks forward to welcoming the Blues to its Sydney home.
The teams have only met twice before, both of them at Etihad Stadium.
"We've seen Chris Judd come back on the weekend, they've pushed Hawthorn, they've pushed Geelong, and they've played some really good football," the coach said.
"They would've been disappointed not to get one of those wins, so it's going to be a tough challenge.
"It's going to be the first time we've played them up here, so it's great we get them on our home ground.
"It's a great opportunity for us to back up again and make it four weeks in a row where we're really, really competitive."
The club will tick off two more milestones this week, with youngsters Adam Treloar and Devon Smith both playing their 50th game.
They will be just the fourth and fifth Giants to reach that mark, following Jonathan Giles, Callan Ward and Tom Scully.
Smith says he is feeling more comfortable at AFL level every week and hopes some victories can start to follow.
"Both of us growing up were very competitive people and come from a winning background," he said of himself and Treloar.
"So we've always been on the winner's list and it's actually been a bit funny losing so much.
"But it just makes us strive to get better."
A boyhood Carlton fan, Treloar knows exactly how difficult the challenge will be on Sunday.
"They're a great team," Treloar said. "The likes of Judd, (Marc) Murphy, (Bryce) Gibbs, you can reel them off.
"It's going to be a great challenge for us mids and it's one we look forward to because they score a lot from centre bounces.
"It's something we'll try to stop and try to make sure we score ourselves."
