The GIANTS have brought in young guns Lachie Whitfield and Aidan Corr for their clash with the Western Bulldogs on Saturday afternoon at Etihad Stadium.
Former number one draft pick Whitfield and key defender Corr replace co-captain Phil Davis (suspended) and Zac Williams (omitted).
“Lachie Whitfield comes back into the team after he was ill for about a week last week,” GIANTS coach Leon Cameron said.
“Aidan’s played six games this year and he’s really starting to learn his craft as a key defender.
“He’ll have his ups and downs but we see him as a long-term player for this footy club and we can see that he’s going to hold down one of those key posts for the next ten years we hope.”
Tensions betweens the fourth-placed GIANTS and 11th-placed Bulldogs have been simmering since the GIANTS won a thrilling final-round match at the same venue in round 23 last year.
Off-season trade action which saw former Bulldogs captain and the number six draft pick join the GIANTS in exchange for key forward Tom Boyd added another layer of spice to relations between the two clubs.
“There’s no doubt it’s going to be an intense game and there’ll be a bit of feeling in the game from both sides,” Cameron said.
“The exchange period with players swapping from both clubs will no doubt add a little spite to the match but at the end of the day we just have to make sure we put our head over the footy, win the contested ball - which they’re number one at.
“We’ve got to bring our tackling game because they’re a number one tackling side as well so they play a very, very good good brand of footy and we need to play at our very, very best to get over the line on Saturday."
Saturday’s match will also be vice-captain Heath Shaw’s 200th AFL game with Cameron praising the influence the former Collingwood premiership star has had on his young group since his arrival 18 months ago.
“He livens up the place, his football speaks for itself in what he’s achieved so far,” Cameron said.
“200 games is an outstanding effort, he’s now starting to build a career here at the GIANTS.
“He’s fantastic to have around and hopefully our boys can put in a really strong performance on Saturday for him.”
The GIANTS play the Western Bulldogs on Saturday afternoon at 4.35pm at Etihad Stadium with live coverage on 7mate in NSW and the ACT and Fox Footy from 4.30pm.
Western Bulldogs v GWS GIANTS
Saturday May 30, 4.35pm
Etihad Stadium, Melbourne
GWS GIANTS
FB: Nick Haynes, Joel Patfull, Matt Buntine
HB: Heath Shaw, Aidan Corr, Adam Kennedy
C: Adam Treloar, Ryan Griffen, Tommy Bugg
HF: James Stewart, Cam McCarthy, Devon Smith
FF: Will Hoskin-Elliott, Jeremy Cameron, Josh Kelly
R: Shane Mumford, Dylan Shiel, Stephen Coniglio
Interchange: Toby Greene, Lachie Whitfield, Tom Scully, Callan Ward
In: Lachie Whitfield, Aidan Corr
Out: Phil Davis (suspended), Zac Williams (omitted)
Emergencies: Zac Williams, Jack Steele, Tom Downie
