GREATER Western Sydney ruckman Shane Mumford could miss the next fortnight after finally to succumbing to an ongoing ankle injury.
Mumford will miss Saturday's clash with Fremantle, and possibly the Giants' round 20 match against Melbourne in Canberra, with a left ankle problem, the same one he had reconstructed back in 2015.
The veteran missed most of that season after going down against Collingwood at the MCG in round 11, and has had ongoing issues ever since.
Coach Leon Cameron said Mumford has been playing sore for the last few weeks, and the time was right to give him a break to make sure the ruckman is fit and ready to play a big part in finals.
"It's progressively gotten worse over the last few weeks and it got to the stage during last weekend's game that it was really hard for him to push through," Cameron said.
"We had to bite the bullet and he's had a few injections to see if we can fix it up.
"He's no certainty to return next week, it depends on how he goes later next week in his training."
Star forward Steve Johnson will be another ageing Giant missing when the Dockers hit Spotless Stadium this week, with the 288-game veteran forced out of the team after his troublesome knee flared up again.
Cameron conceded that the 2007 Norm Smith medallist would be a week-to-week proposition for the rest of the season, but backed him to answer his critics, who again have questioned Johnson's value to the team in recent weeks.
"There's no doubt that his knee is hanging on by a thread, but it doesn't matter how you get to the ground on game day," he said.
"Whether you're 80 per cent, or 100 per cent, you get judged on that performance and rightly so, and Steve's the first person to put his hand up with that sort of thing.
"He's had such a fantastic career but he keeps finding a way, like when we played the Swans two weeks ago, and he was a really creative forward and kicked a couple of goals."
On the plus side for the Giants, vice-captain Stephen Coniglio and leading goalkicker Jeremy Cameron will play against Fremantle, adding significant leadership and star power to the side that has just one win from its last six matches.
Cameron has missed the past two matches with hamstring soreness, while Coniglio hasn't played since he underwent ankle surgery after suffering his second syndesmosis injury of the season against the Magpies in round eight.
The West Australian gathered 36 possessions in the NEAFL last week and said while his time watching from the sidelines had given him a good insight into the Giants' on-field struggles, those who have written off their premiership hopes were missing the mark.
"So many things have gone wrong and we've had a lot of injuries yet we're sitting third on the table," he said.
"We've been outplayed and well beaten, particularly last week, but what better way to hit back than to win on Saturday and go on a run between now and the end of the season.
"There's been a lot of talk about our club and our players, but we know what we want, and we'll work to get that."
