GREATER Western Sydney will anxiously await injury reports on stars Stephen Coniglio and Lachie Whitfield over the next 48 hours after both were forced to play the second half under duress in Saturday night's win over the Swans at the SCG.
Coniglio dislocated a finger on his right hand and donned a glove after half-time to protect the problem, while Whitfield copped a heavily corked thigh which left him unable to provide the Giants with his elite running for most of the night.
Coach Leon Cameron can ill afford to lose the pair, arguably the Giants' two best players this season, with co-captain Phil Davis also under a cloud, after he was a late withdrawal from the Sydney Derby with the ankle injury he suffered against Fremantle last week.
GIANTS CRUSH SWANS Full match coverage and stats
The Giants, who controlled the Swans for the majority of the match and ran out comfortable 41-point winners, travel to Canberra next week to take on St Kilda and Cameron is desperate to have his gun trio available.
"Coniglio was really brave to play on, we don't know how bad it is," he said.
"He's hard and he's tough and I thought he played his role really well.
WATCH Leon Cameron's full post-match press conference
"For him to hit the scoreboard and play good midfield time speaks volumes about who he is.
"If it's right (for next week) he'll push on but if it's not we'll see where that leads.
"For his build, Lachie is as hard as anyone at our footy club, and he cracks in probably too much at times, and he's really sore.
"But he was the first one to put his hand up to play on and he was hampered, but it allowed us to keep rotating our players.
"We'll give him every chance (to play next week), like we did with Davis (this week), but we'll assess that during the week."
Coniglio was brilliant against the Swans and booted four goals from 24 possessions, while Whitfield, despite battling to cover the ground playing as a deep forward on one leg, added two valuable goals himself.
With both players spending less time in the midfield against Sydney, Cameron said he was extremely impressed by the performances of emerging Giants Tim Taranto –
who was awarded the Brett Kirk medal for best on ground – and Jacob Hopper.
Taranto and Hopper were outstanding around the footy and shared 63 possessions, 36 of those contested, 13 clearances and 13 tackles against the Swans.
"Tim clearly led the charge, I thought when Sydney had the ascendancy his last 10 minutes of the second quarter was first class from him," Cameron said.
"He defended well and won some crucial balls, and we could have gone in at half-time behind if he wasn't out there.
"It was a hard game and 'Hops' took a really big hit but picked himself up and kept on whacking away.
"It's pleasing you've got third and fourth-year midfielders that love the hunt and tight footy, and we were rapt with the game, but we're also rapt with how they're progressing."
