INSPIRATIONAL forward Toby Greene is set to return for Greater Western Sydney to take on North Melbourne on Sunday.
Greene suffered a fracture to his right shoulder in the narrow loss to Richmond in round nine and was expected to be sidelined for at least a month, but will only miss two matches ( in a timeframe that includes the Giants' bye).
Phil Davis and Matt de Boer will also play this weekend after both recovering from soft-tissue injuries sustained in round three against Melbourne, but the Giants are yet to decide whether they’ll come straight back into the senior side or have a run in the VFL.
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Inaugural Giant Adam Kennedy and small forward Tom Hutchesson are also available after long-term injuries, although they are expected to come back through the VFL.
The Giants should soon have a healthy competition for senior spots, with Harry Perryman (hamstring) on track to return next week and Brent Daniels (hamstring) the week after. And skipper Stephen Coniglio (ankle) and Jesse Hogan (calf) are only a few weeks away.
Greene, who replaced Coniglio as captain, had an outstanding start to the season, kicking 22 goals in nine games including two bags of five.
"He's had a fantastic year as a player, but clearly that period of time when he's been our captain when 'Cogs' has been out, he's really set the tone, which is great," Leon Cameron said on Thursday.
"He's just trained really well. He hasn't lost all his running and agility because he could do all that, it's making sure that his shoulder is ready to roll. And it is, he's been doing contact for a week now.
"Having those sorts of players, those competitive players, de Boer is the same, Davis is the same, they're infectious. They're that driven to play really hard, tough footy and that's infectious.
"The bye came at a really good time for us in terms of having a few injuries," Cameron said.
Cameron was wary, however, of selecting too many of his recently recovered stars.
"Having those guys back not only gives you an opportunity to bolster your AFL side but it also adds numbers to our VFL side which has been running around with six or seven blokes," he said.
"You can't bring too many players back all at once. Out of those four or five guys, clearly a couple will definitely come in, if not three.”
Sam Reid will play his 100th game when he lines up against the Kangaroos, after first being drafted in the 2007 NAB AFL Draft.
The defender made his debut in round 22, 2008 while playing for Western Bulldogs, and has had the seventh longest journey – and the longest in 93 years – from a debut to 100 games in the history of the VFL/AFL.
"It's a great story. We all know it's unique over that period of time to play 100 games," Cameron said.
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