If the GWS Giants are going to advance past this weekend’s Semi Final against West Coast, they are going to have to do it without two of their most experienced players.
Earlier this week, Giants ruckman Shane Mumford was ruled out for the rest of the season with a fractured foot while forward Jeremy Cameron is also sidelined for the remainder of the AFL Finals with a hamstring injury.
Cameron tore his left hamstring in the second quarter of the loss to the Adelaide Crows last week, sitting on the sidelines for the second half of the 36 point blowout.
Giants Head of Athletic Performance David Joyce said Mumford reported “some soreness” in his foot the day after the game.
“Having consulted a specialist on Monday, the decision has been made to rule him out for the rest of the season,” he said.
“This is disappointing news for Shane but he’ll no doubt put this aside to help his teammates prepare the best they can.”
Despite the giant losses of Mumford and Cameron, GWS are still firm favourites heading into Saturday night’s clash against the West Coast Eagles at Spotless Stadium.
After a disappointing loss to the Minor Premiers in Adelaide, the Giants will be determined to get their post-season back on track this weekend.
Speaking with the media on Monday, Giants midfielder Callan Ward said his side need to play with more consistency if they are to get past the Eagles.
“Overall we didn’t play as well as we thought we would against Adelaide, we weren’t consistent enough,” he said.
“We thought we played three pretty good quarters but we played that really poor quarter in the second, that was really disappointing.
“We just need to improve our consistency amongst the four quarters.”
West Coast enjoyed a thrilling extra time win over Port Adelaide last Saturday to advance to the second round.
Ward said he ranked the boys from the west “very highly”.
“They’ve been playing some really good footy and played terrific the other night, it was a great game,” he said.
“Everyone has been speaking about all the travelling they’ve been doing but it’s Finals footy and I think everyone gets up for Finals footy and they will be up and about.”
The GWS Giants take on the West Coast Eagles for a place in the Preliminary Final at 7.25pm this Saturday, September 16 at Spotless Stadium.
Nathan Taylor is the Weekender’s Deputy Editor and Senior Sports Writer. He also compiles the weekly Chatter on the Box TV column. Nathan is an award-winning journalist, who has worked at the Weekender for a decade.
