BRILLIANT Greater Western Sydney onballer Stephen Coniglio has avoided surgery on his dislocated finger and should be available for Saturday's meeting with St Kilda, but the outlook isn't as good for fellow midfield star Lachie Whitfield.
Coniglio hurt a finger on his right hand during the opening half of the round six win over cross-town rival Sydney and wore a glove after the long break, while Whitfield suffered a heavily corked thigh.
Meanwhile, courageous co-captain Phil Davis is looking more likely than not to return for the Saints clash at Manuka Oval, having nursed a rolled left ankle.
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The corkie for Whitfield has been slow to heal.
"Whitfield's probably more unlikely than likely to play," GWS coach Leon Cameron said on Tuesday.
"He copped a really good corkie.
"It's still fairly sore today and with the seven-day turnaround, I'm not saying it's impossible for him to get up, but (after) Sunday, Monday and Tuesday, we've had three days and he's still in a fair bit of pain."
Lachie Whitfield is running around with a corkie, but he got this one to go!#AFLSwansGiants pic.twitter.com/Nm6ChQt8Gs
— AFL (@AFL) April 27, 2019
Training on Wednesday will be crucial in determining whether Coniglio, a restricted free agent, faces the Saints.
"We've avoided surgery (for Coniglio) which is fantastic. He's probably more likely to play than not play, which is really pleasing," Cameron said.
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"We all know that he has a finger issue but he's got to show us during the week that he can function in the right capacity to play an AFL game, but it's looking a lot more likely than unlikely."
The 25-year-old is in the midst of yet another superb season, averaging 29.7 disposals, along with 1.3 goals per game.
For comparison's sake, Dustin Martin went at 29.8 disposals and 1.5 goals in his outstanding 2017 Brownlow campaign, while Patrick Dangerfield put up 31.8 disposals and one goal per match the previous year when he took 'Charlie' home.
It's not hard to see why Cameron wants Coniglio to line up against the Saints.
"He's still got to get through the main session tomorrow and see how he pulls up," Cameron said.
"Clearly lots of players just like to play and they can play through some sort of pain barrier but we've got to make sure that he's functioning right, that he can handle the ball fine and he's ready to go and if that's all ticked off, then he'll play on Saturday."
Davis' recovery hasn't been smooth sailing but the Giants are optimistic.
Phil Davis injured himself in a marking contest late in fourth quarter of #AFLGiantsFreo. pic.twitter.com/vjuIaYuoKT
— AFL (@AFL) April 20, 2019
"Phil's probably 70-30. We'll assess him tomorrow, but he actually made some really good ground," Cameron said.
"We were actually thinking on Friday he was going to get there, Saturday he pulled up a little bit sore, so that's why we pulled him out Saturday night.
"Sunday and Monday has been a little bit slower than what we probably would have hoped, but in saying that, it's going a couple of good days, then one that stalls a little bit. If he's not right, he's not right."