Veteran Brett Deledio looks unlikely to return from a calf injury before his retirement.

Deledio announced his retirement earlier this month and suffered a calf injury early in Saturday’s elimination final against the Bulldogs.

“He did it in the first or second quarter, not sure which one, but he did really well to play out the game,” said GIANTS General Manager of Football Wayne Campbell. 

“He had a scan and has a split in his tendon again which is what he’s had quite a bit of trouble with. 

“We’re not putting an absolute line through his season, if we happen to win a couple more games, but he’s probably up against it to play again this year.”

Vice-captain Stephen Coniglio has been ruled out of Saturday’s semi-final against the Brisbane Lions at the Gabba but has progressed in his comeback from a knee injury suffered in round 17.

“He’s tracking along nicely,” Campbell said.

“He’s started to do some change of direction running which is great.  

“His knee has settled down really nicely and any of that swelling that had been in there is out of it now. 

“He won’t play this week but if we were to progress he would be some sort of chance.”

Second-year forward Zac Langdon comes off the injury list after recovering from ankle surgery in July.

“He’s been training for a few weeks now,” Campbell said.

“Again, we just need to keep winning and we might have a full complement other than a couple we’ve talked about during the year. 

“Zac’s done an amazing job with his injury and is a true professional so could potentially play this week or next week.”

The GIANTS take on the Lions on Saturday night.