AFTER more than five years on Greater Western Sydney's list, ruckman Matt Flynn will make his long-awaited debut against St Kilda on Sunday.
Coach Leon Cameron also confirmed impressive draftee Tanner Bruhn will debut in a Giants outfit that has been hit by injury.
Forward Jake Riccardi (ankle) is unavailable after an intraclub mishap at the weekend, while recruit Jesse Hogan (quad) is still a week or two away from a return.
But Cameron was all smiles in announcing Flynn's debut after the club's Academy product was taken with the 41st pick in the 2015 NAB AFL Draft.
"He walked into our footy club about 1940-odd days ago. It's a wonderful story," Cameron said.
"When we let the players know … there was a lot of emotion in the room because they know how hard Matty's worked to get this opportunity.
"It puts a smile on my face.
"With AFL footy, it's so hard, it's brutal … 'Flynny' hasn't had a lot of good luck over the last couple of years and he gets a great opportunity on Sunday."
The 23-year-old tweaked his ankle at training less than two weeks ago, but got through Saturday's hitout fine to confirm his availability.
Cameron said youngsters Connor Idun, Isaac Cumming, Jack Buckley and possibly Kieren Briggs as a second ruck option were all squarely in the frame to play the Saints.
Phil Davis (knee) has progressed nicely and a decision on his selection will be made later in the week.
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Cameron said despite the injuries and off-season list turnover, the Giants still expected to play finals in 2021.
"We want to play a brand of footy where we're hard to play against. We dropped away in that aspect in 2020," he said.
"Clearly we need to move the ball a little bit better and we feel as though we've worked on that heavily over the pre-season. And we're not shy about going through the corridor again.
"It's different personnel and there's new opportunities."