GWS superstar Toby Greene is adamant he won’t be rested when the AFL fixture becomes more hectic, now it’s just a matter of convincing coach Leon Cameron.
Greene’s importance to the Giants’ premiership hopes was underlined in Friday night’s grand-final rematch, when he booted five goals to deliver a 12-point win over Richmond.
The small forward missed the preceding loss to Brisbane because of a sore shin, having also skipped a round-three loss to Western Bulldogs because of a sore knee.
On both those occasions, the 26-year-old was unimpressed when told by Cameron that he had to sit out.
“I wasn’t happy with him last week. Now he will say he made the right decision, but I still don’t think he did,” Greene quipped.
The same debate is certain to play out again later this season as the Giants hunt their maiden flag.
“I won’t be getting rested, don’t worry about that. I’m fresh,” Greene said.
“With the shorter quarters you definitely pull up better. So we’ll have no issues there.
“We’ll see what Leon says.
“If you’re in a hub and playing every four or five days, you’d actually rather that than playing once a week like they’ve been doing … you’d rather be playing than training.”
The Giants have fared better than most clubs during coming weeks, with the only concerning turnaround being a five-day break between clashes with Gold Coast and Essendon.
However, it is possible that means more fixture pain will come closer to the end of the regular season.
Cameron admits deciding whether Greene needs a spell during a congested block of games will be the “million dollar question”.
“Toby will try to play every day. So he’ll think he’ll be right, sometimes he’s his own worst enemy because he’s so brave,” Cameron said.
“We’ll look at it each week. Luckily we’ve got an eight-day break now.
“We’ve just got to make sure he’s out on the park a lot more. He’s a had a few setbacks in the last few years.”
Greene suggested his team, now 4-4 for the year, still have plenty to improve on.
“We’d been a bit out of form for a few weeks and needed to respond,” he said.
Cameron was full of praise for Greene, describing him as a “bull at a gate”.
“He’s always in the contest,” he said.
“Players clearly love playing with him because he drives the players beside him to do better.”
Tigers coach Damien Hardwick also showered Greene with praise.
“He’s a star,” Hardwick said.