Greater Western Sydney will experiment with various forward options in suspended co-captain Toby Greene’s absence to start the season.
The do-it-all superstar served the first of his six-game ban in last year’s semi-final loss to Geelong for making intentional contact to umpire Matt Stevic.
The Giants have since elevated Greene and Josh Kelly to co-captaincy status with incumbent Stephen Coniglio, but they face a challenge to avoid another slow start without him.
Harry Himmelberg and Jesse Hogan are coach Leon Cameron’s preferred tall marking options in attack and he hopes Brent Daniels and Bobby Hill can thrive with greater responsibility.
Tim Taranto and Coniglio are set to be used inside 50 more often in the first five rounds, while Cameron tipped 2020 first-round draftees Tanner Bruhn and Conor Stone to contend for spots.
GWS may even opt for a taller forward line, with Jake Riccardi and ex-Eagle Jarrod Brander hoping to force their way in to complement Himmelberg and Hogan.
“It’ll be a combination – whether that is three talls, or we’ve used Tim Taranto down there in great fashion the back end of last year,” Cameron told News Corp.
“He’s so flexible, Tim. He hits the scoreboard but, equally, he is just as powerful in the midfield, so sometimes you're robbing Peter to pay Paul.
“We’ve got to try to settle on a front seven through those early practice matches to give it a bit of synergy, knowing that Toby is not going to be there for that first part of the year.
“We’ve been able to put together different sides over the past four or five years, because of some of the injuries we’ve sustained and we‘ve had to think on the run.
“At least this time we get a whole pre-season to work on it.”
The Giants plan to be strategic with Greene’s training loads, wary about working him too hard in the pre-season just because of his later start.
“It might mean that he’s playing a bit of lower-level footy or maybe on the younger teams’ side (in match simulation), so we can get a bit of rhythm and feel who can fill that spot,” Cameron said.
“The good thing about it is he’ll be able to play a few practice matches in our VFL but when the competition starts up, clearly, he can‘t play because of his suspension.
“He will get some footy in but how much we’ll have to judge … but it’s an interesting one.
“It’ll be a combination of three things: managing load; how much work does he do with our senior team leading up to Round 1; but equally getting enough match practice in, so he’s ready to hit the ground in Round 6.”
