Tim Mohr will play his first AFL game in 356 days with the defender to replace injured co-captain Phil Davis for the GIANTS’ clash with North Melbourne in Hobart.

It will be a happy homecoming for the big Tasmanian, who hasn’t featured in an AFL game since being a late call up to the GIANTS’ starting 22 in their round 10 win over West Coast in Perth last year. 

The 29-year-old has been in strong form for the GIANTS’ NEAFL side and had been singled out by coach Leon Cameron as being on the cusp of a long-awaited call-up in recent weeks.

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Davis’ concussion suffered in the third quarter of last week’s loss to West Coast opens the door for Mohr to make his way into the side. 

“He’s been playing some great footy at NEAFL level, holding up that full back position,” GIANTS coach Leon Cameron said on Wednesday

“He’s probably been really unlucky not to get into that starting seven in the backline. 

“We’re really looking forward to seeing him get that opportunity to play and hold down that post.”

Mohr is accustomed to long waits between games, with the 196cm GIANT out of AFL action for 665 days after undergoing two knee reconstructions in the space of eight months. 

The inaugural GIANT who has played 46 games since 2012, detailed his journey back from injury in the club’s podcast series A Club Like No Other.

While Mohr plugs the hole left by Davis, Cameron said his defensive unit will need to ‘mix and match’ to stop North Melbourne’s in-form forwards. 

“They’ve got some fantastic key forwards and it’s not just Brown,” he said. 

“It’s not just Brown who is one of the best key forwards in the competition, they’ve got young Mason Wood who’s clearly got some enormous talent and work rate, and Jarrod Waite speaks for himself. 

“Then you add Jack Ziebell who’s playing that 50-50 role and they have a lot of weapons down there.

“Mohr, Aidan Corr and Adam Tomlinson, and Jeremy Finlayson are going to have to mix and match. 

“We were really proud of Aidan’s game last week on Josh Kennedy so there’s no doubt at time’s he’s going to have Brown and that’s a huge challenge.”