The battle for ruck supremacy at GWS looks set to continue throughout this AFL season, with coach Leon Cameron urging Sam Jacobs to make the most of his chance in Friday night’s grand final rematch.
Former Adelaide big man Jacobs has been recalled at the expense of Shane Mumford, who hurt his neck during the Giants’ loss to Brisbane.
The early expectation was that Jacobs, who left the Crows last year, and Mumford, who came out of retirement for 2019 then decided to go around again, would share ruck duties throughout this season.
Cameron declared this week that the battle to be first-choice ruckman isn’t just between the two veterans, making it clear that untried youngsters Kieren Briggs and Matthew Flynn are also in the conversation.
For now, Jacobs has a golden chance to entrench himself in the side after spending four weeks on the sidelines.
“He’s been working at his craft and areas he knows can be better at,” Cameron said.
“He’s desperate to play. He gets a great opportunity against a good ruck combo at the Tigers.
“Everyone would love to have a consistent ruckman and my challenge to these guys is ‘who wants to grab it?’ … it’d be great if someone grabs it.
“Mummy’s been pretty good since he’s been back and Sauce (Jacobs) was very good prior to the break but then lost a little bit of form.”
GWS made three changes for their clash with Richmond at Giants Stadium, recalling Jacobs, Toby Greene and Daniel Lloyd.
Sore star forward Greene was sorely missed in last week’s loss to Brisbane
“Will he inject some excitement into our team on Friday? He will,” Cameron said.
“He’s a special player.
“Clearly Toby was a tough decision (last week) but he was still a bit sore and we pulled him out. He’s trained this week and he’s keen to play.”
The Tigers have replaced hamstrung midfielder Josh Caddy with Patrick Naish, who will be playing his third AFL game.