GREATER Western Sydney defender Sam Taylor remains a few weeks away from a comeback, having undergone surgery to repair a nasty ruptured testicle he sustained a fortnight ago.
Taylor visited a urologist on Wednesday to determine a recovery plan, where he was cleared to resume running from next week. However, the All-Australian is still likely to be sidelined for the club's next few matches.
While the results were viewed as a positive for Taylor's recovery, the star defender will likely still be ruled out of a critical period where Adam Kingsley's side will look to negate a run of just three wins from their past nine matches.
"He'll start running next week and then I'd be purely guessing but I'd expect a couple weeks after that (for his return)," Giants coach Adam Kingsley said on Thursday.
"He saw the surgeon yesterday and he was pretty positive. He's in good spirits and no longer in any pain which is nice."
Amid their next run of pivotal fixtures, the Giants will face stiff road tests against Adelaide and Richmond as well as hosting finals fancy Carlton at Engie Stadium in a fortnight's time.
But the club is expected to regain both Stephen Coniglio and Harry Perryman for Saturday night's clash with the Crows, after both made it through their main training session on Thursday.
Coniglio has been sidelined since May after battling a shoulder issue, while Perryman has now successfully recovered from a hamstring injury, with both likely to return to the side as it looks to respond from last weekend's disappointing defeat to Sydney.
"[Coniglio] knows in certain moments what's required," Kingsley said.
"We love his fast feet around the stoppage and contest. He explodes out really well for us, getting our game up and going from the source he's really important for that. He usually kicks a goal or two most weeks. It's good to have him back."
Isaac Cumming is also a confirmed starter for what will be the defender's first appearance of the season following an injury-plagued start to the year.
"All three got through training, no problem, so they'll be back in. We're happy with Isaac (Cumming); he's played two games in the VFL and did a fair bit of training in the lead-up to playing so he's ready to go,"
Cumming missed the opening portion of the campaign after injuring his quad across the summer, before his return was delayed even further by a calf problem he sustained during the final stages of his rehab program.
However, he played a full match in the VFL last week and impressed, with Harry Rowston (21 disposals, six clearances) and Darcy Jones (15 disposals, 2.5 in front of goal) also among the best in the reserves.
The Giants coach said Toby Bedford would again be used in a tagging role after playing on midfielders Zak Butters and Chad Warner in the last two weeks.
While Kingsley wouldn't outline which Crow that Bedford would go to, he didn't rule out a slight 'run-with' shift and the possibility that he'll be tasked with trying to shut down star forward Izak Rankine.
"I know but I'm not going to tell you. He's got capability to do both. They've got a few dangerous forwards who can play high or midfield and they've got some dangerous midfielders too, so it'll be one of them," Kingsley said.
The Giants remain in the top eight on percentage only with an 8-6 record.