An injury-stricken GWS Giants side will host Richmond on Saturday afternoon, hoping that they can again scrape through against a hardy challenger.
The Giants had a close-fought encounter with Collingwood at this ground last week and despite being three men down on the bench in the last quarter, were able to get the win. A bit of Stevie J magic in the last minute put the Giants ahead at the final siren and they narrowly escaped what would have been a worrisome loss. However, there were more injuries to come out of that match, with Stephen Coniglio now to miss ten weeks, and this was made worse by a Devon Smith training injury during the week.
Richmond on the other hand had a 5-0 start to the year but have now lost their last three matches on the trot. Don’t let that fool you though, they’ve not been too bad over that stretch. They were in the fight early against Adelaide, and then only lost by a goal against the Bulldogs and the Dockers. If fortune had been a bit kinder, they could easily be 7-1 and on top of the ladder – but fortune is never kind to Richmond fans.
This week the Giants have Toby Greene back from suspension and will also debut Matt de Boer and Harry Perryman. Coniglio and Smith are out due to injury as previously mentioned, while Harrison Himmelberg has been dropped.
Richmond have made sweeping changes, not content with last week’s muddling effort. Dan Butler misses with a groin injury while Jack Batchelor, Todd Elton, Corey Ellis and Oleg Markov have all been dropped from the side. Dion Prestia is back, Sam Lloyd, Ivan Soldo and Connor Menadue have all been recalled, and the Tigers will debut Shai Bolton, their first pick at last year’s draft.
There’s a good chance that GWS can come out on top in this game despite their injuries, but Richmond at $3.60 to win is excellent value given the Giants look vulnerable.