Sydney and the Giants collide on Thursday afternoon at Henson Park in their final dress rehearsal before Opening Round.
GWS made four late changes in the lead-up to the bout, with Kieren Briggs, Callum Brown, Aaron Cadman and Joe Fonti coming out of the side, with Ollie Hannaford, Harry Oliver, Jack Ough and Oskar Taylor replacing them.
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ANOTHER SCARE FOR UNDERMANNED GIANTS, SWANS STAR WITHDRAWN
The Giants already have a towering injury list.
So when Jesse Hogan went down in the first quarter after landing awkwardly in a contest, there was serious cause for concern.
Hogan left the ground with a right ankle tweak he’s had persistent issues in the past.
The Coleman medallist returned to the game later in the term in a sigh of relief, but still appeared to be sore.
Sydney took a much more conservative approach with Errol Gulden, who was pulled from the game at quarter-time with a minor rolled ankle in a precautionary move.
Gulden, who was limited to just 10 games last year after suffering an ankle fracture in the pre-season, suffered the setback after kicking a goal in the opening term.
But the Swans said they expect Gulden to be fine for next week’s season-opening clash with Carlton.
GWS, already missing the likes of Finn Callaghan, Sam Taylor, Brent Daniels, Josh Kelly and Tom Green, would be more wary of losing any more key soldiers, despite Hogan playing through the setback.
“He has a history of right foot injuries dating back to his time at Fremantle in 2019 when he had it operated on. He struggled with it again late last season,” Fox Footy commentator Ruby Schleicher said.
“He came down (in a contest) and appeared to tweak his right ankle. He got up and played out the quarter after a brief time on the bench, but he did look a little hampered when he was slowing down.
“It does the beg the question for GWS, with (multiple players) on the injury list, does Adam Kingsley pull him for the second half, wrap him in cotton wool and make sure he gets to Opening Round?”
Western Bulldogs great Brad Johnson suggested during the call that GWS would be weighing up pulling Hogan from the game, given its extensive injury list.
“It’s something that will be going through their minds, absolutely, and it’d be based on how Jesse is feeling,” he said.
“He looked OK at different stages. He was good at high speed, but as he was slowing down he had a bit of a limp.
“They’ll be keeping a very close eye on him.”
Kelly plays down Neale injury | 05:14
SYDNEY SELECTED SIDE
B: L.Melican, T.McCartin, D.Rampe
HB: C.Mills – C, N.Blakey, S.Wicks
C: J.Jordon, Ch.Warner, M.Roberts
HF: Co.Warner, B.Campbell, M.Rosas
F: L.McDonald, C.Curnow, T.Papley
Foll: B.Grundy, I.Heeney, E.Gulden
I/C: R.Bice, J.Serong, A.Sheldrick, J.McInerney, P.Ladhams, J.Rowbottom H.McLean, J.Amartey
Emg: C.Cleary, J.Hamling, H.Kyle, W.Green
Missing: Taylor Adams, Harry Cunningham, Jesse Dattoli, Jake Lloyd
GWS SELECTED SIDE
B: H.Himmelberg, J.Buckley, C.Idun
HB: L.Ash, J.Laverde, L.Whitfield
C: X.O’Halloran, H.Rowston, R.Angwin
HF: T.Greene – C, J.Riccardi, J.Stringer
F: A.Cadman, J.Hogan, H.Thomas
Foll: K.Briggs, S.Coniglio, C.Oliver
I/C: N.Madden, P.Gothard, M.Gruzewski, C.Stone, C.Brown, J.Delana, J.Leake, J.Fonti
Emerg: J.Ough, O.Hannaford, H.Oliver, O.Taylor
Missing: Darcy Jones, Tom Green, Toby Bedford, Sam Taylor, Brent Daniels, Finn Callaghan, Leek Aleer, Josh Kelly, Cody Angove
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