GREATER Western Sydney captain Toby Greene is no guarantee to return from a lower leg injury to face Collingwood at the MCG on Sunday.
The 29-year-old was a late withdrawal from the side that lost to the Western Bulldogs on Saturday night and Giants coach Adam Kingsley says he still has a lot to do before proving his fitness to face the ladder leaders.
"If he gets through training he'll play, if he doesn't, he won't," Kingsley said.
"He'll train Friday with a view to getting through that. We'll see, we'll assess and then if we need to run some further (fitness) tests, we'll do that prior to the game," Kingsley says.
With that in mind, Greene's availability looms as another game-day decision for the Giants but the coach ensures that his issue is not a long-term one.
"I'm hoping and expecting him to play this week but if he doesn't, I'd expect him to play the following week," Kingsley said.
Ever the protagonist of flashpoints in games, the threat of Greene up forward may place the microscope on the Collingwood fans once more, following the fallout from the booing of Lance Franklin, last week.
It was a situation that Kingsley says he found bemusing.
"There has to be context around it. If you've played a part in something in an incident in a previous game or against that opposition or if you've previously played for them, then it's all well and good," he said.
"Apart from that, I'm not sure of the value of it. All you had to do was look at Darcy Moore at the end of the game and see how it made him feel, the captain of the club.
"You think you're supporting your team but you're not really, you're making the players feel really uncomfortable."
The Giants' approach to Magpies star Nick Daicos will be of interest too after the Swans chose to rough up the second-year player on the weekend.
However Kingsley is not a fan of that approach but says he’ll afford his players the freedom to assess the situation themselves.
"It's not reflective of the way I think it should be done. It's more important to be physical when the ball is live, and the player has the chance to win the ball," he said.
"The players might have a different view though and if so that's their responsibility, I won't stand in their way."
Kingsley hasn't been shy when it comes to calling for his team to lock down hard on an opposition star ahead of a game.
The Giants did so successfully on Adelaide's Rory Laird in round one, however Marcus Bontempelli broke the close-checking approach early last week before Tom Green helped dilute his influence in the second half.
Kingsley concedes trying to tag Daicos is not a straight forward task.
"I'm not sure which way we'll go. If we let him run free and do whatever he wants, then he'll punish us and it'll be very difficult for us to win the game," he said.
"We've got to be able to control him as best as we can but if it's an out and out tag with one player sitting on him, what Collingwood and 'Fly' (coach Craig McRae) are adept at doing is shifting his position on the field.
"That creates an overload in one area of the ground and a shortage potentially in the midfield because he typically starts at most centre bounces. You run the risk of them having an unpressured player running through the midfield."
No.1 draft pick Aaron Cadman may be set for a rest after being subbed out last week with just three disposals and no goals, with Jake Riccardi a strong chance to take his place in the Giants' team following 11 goals in three weeks in the VFL.
