Search

show me:

Giants mull unchanged team for AFL derby

3 minute read

GWS coach Leon Cameron is keen to name an unchanged team for the first time this AFL season if Phil Davis proves his fitness for the derby clash with Sydney.

Giants coach LEON CAMERON looks on during a Greater Western Sydney Giants AFL training session at Sydney Olympic Park in Sydney, Australia.
Giants coach LEON CAMERON looks on during a Greater Western Sydney Giants AFL training session at Sydney Olympic Park in Sydney, Australia. Picture: Jason McCawley/Getty Images

GWS could name an unchanged team for the first time this AFL season if Phil Davis is able to prove he is ready for Thursday night's derby.

Rivals are routinely opting for wholesale changes during a hectic stretch of games, but Giants coach Leon Cameron is keen to stick with a winning formula amid a six-day turnaround after his club's third straight victory.

However, former co-captain Davis could yet scupper those plans after hurting his knee in GWS's dramatic win over Essendon.

"We'll give Phil until tomorrow's captain's run," Cameron told reporters on Tuesday.

"It'll be touch and go. If I had to put a percentage figure on it, probably 60-40.

"But he's always found a way to get up and play, he's durable.

"We'd most likely go in unchanged if he gets up, but if he can't deliver a good session tomorrow then we've got a bit of thinking to do as to who comes in."

Young defender Sam Taylor would ordinarily be the closet thing to a like-for-like replacement for Davis.

However, Taylor is still recovering from the bacterial joint infection which resulted in him being admitted to hospital and losing 10kg.

This will be the 19th edition of the Sydney derby and comfortably the strangest, having been exported to Perth's Optus Stadium because of the COVID-19 pandemic.

"We understand it's a bit different, but it's still a game of footy ... a really, really fierce rivalry," Cameron said.

Cameron's club isn't expected to return home during the regular season because of border closures, while the prospect of a home final - should they earn hosting rights - is seemingly slim.

"We'd love to be playing back in Sydney," he said.

"If we happen to go back to Sydney that's great. Or Adelaide, or Queensland ... we'll just move to wherever we are told to move to."

Think. Is this a bet you really want to place?

For free and confidential support call 1800 858 858 or visit www.gamblinghelponline.org.au