Leon Cameron concedes Greater Western Sydney star Toby Greene may need to be managed again during a condensed AFL schedule in the coming weeks.
Greene has battled knee, shin and soft tissue complaints this year and was under a fitness cloud last week, but got up to produce a match-winning five-goal display against Richmond.
He has recovered well and is expected to complete the Giants’ two full training sessions during an extended eight-day break leading into Sunday’s meeting with Gold Coast.
But Greene has already missed two matches off short breaks this season and GWS coach Cameron is wary of a fixture that sees his side play its next three games in the space of 12 days.
“Hopefully it’s smooth sailing from here and best-case scenario he pumps out nine games in a row,” Cameron said.
“Clearly the players that are really important to your structure and play a huge role, you’re looking at closely.
“No doubt over the next three weeks we’re going to have some big decisions to make on players on how they’ve pulled up and can they (keep backing up).
“It’s not just the first five-day break, it’s then the second or the third that you might be playing.”
The Giants sit 12th on the ladder with a 4-4 record and the fight for a top-eight spot presents Cameron with another hurdle as he attempts to manage players’ workloads.
“It makes it easier if you’re in a far greater position and you’ve got more wins on the board because you can probably afford to rest a player a bit more,” Cameron said.
“But we’re under no illusions that we’ve got to play our best footy on Sunday against the Suns because they’re playing some great footy.”
Cameron was pleased with some signs of improvement against Richmond but said the Giants still needed to tidy up some areas of their game.
Ball movement and locking the ball in the forward half are key focus areas this week.
“Right now we’re putting our backs under the pump too much and we’re defending quite well, but somewhere along the line the dam wall breaks,” Cameron said.
Speedster Zac Williams and Adam Kennedy have been cleared to return from hamstring injuries against Gold Coast.
Ruckman Shane Mumford is also available and Callan Ward faces a test on his injured knee.
Sam Reid faces another few weeks on the sidelines with a calf injury.