The Giants have been dealt a major double blow ahead of Saturday's knockout semi-final against West Coast, with key big men Jeremy Cameron and Shane Mumford ruled out for the rest of the season.
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Cameron tore his left hamstring in last week's qualifying final loss to Adelaide, while Mumford picked up a fractured foot in the same clash.
Mumford spent Monday with a specialist after returning to Sydney bearing crutches. It's the second time in three years he's been unable to finish the season through injury.
"Shane reported some soreness in his foot the day after the game and upon further investigation it was revealed he'd suffered a fracture," Giants head of athletic performance David Joyce said.
"Having consulted a specialist on Monday, the decision has been made to rule him out for the rest of the season."
GWS coach Leon Cameron has two options to replace Mumford against the Eagles – recalling back-up Dawson Simpson who has played just two AFL matches this season, or deploy Rory Lobb in the ruck full-time.
The absence of Cameron opens the door for veteran Steve Johnson to return for at least one more match of AFL football before he retires. He was dropped before the Crows game after managing just eight possessions in the final-round loss to Geelong.
Johnson played in a scratch match against the Crows' reserves on Friday morning, as did fellow veteran Ryan Griffen in his first serious hit-out since recovering from a syndesmosis ankle injury.
Griffen didn't pull up particularly well from the match.
Small forward Devon Smith is expected to be fit again after missing the Adelaide game through knee soreness.
"Guys like Stevie [Johnson], they'll always help us when we're playing but I guess what we're trying to do is get the whole 22 to stand up when we call on them and we haven't had that," Giants co-captain Callan Ward said.
"The experienced guys need to stand up and there's been times where we've failed throughout the whole year but especially the weekend just gone. I've got full belief in the players that we can start doing that.
"The second half of the year, we've been very up and down. When we get challenged we've struggled quite a bit in the last couple of weeks.
"We're doing everything we can to improve that on game day. We just need to stick at it and hope that it will return."
Simpson handled himself well in his two matches earlier this season when Mumford was injured, helping GWS to wins over Fremantle and the Western Bulldogs.
But replacing leading goalkicker Cameron is almost impossible, and a lot of that responsibility will fall on the shoulders of Jonathon Patton.
"He's been up and about, he knows the importance of him being positive around the group – it's a tough situation for him to be told his season's done, especially this time of year," Ward said.
"It's probably the last thing that the boys want to see, a guy walking around with his head between his legs. He's been really positive for the group.
"I've got full confidence in whoever comes in and plays a role for us.
"He's a super player and he has been a for a few years now, I love playing with Jez but I still believe that we can play really good footy without him.
"Even the second half on the weekend I thought we played some really good footy. Jez wasn't playing so I've got full confidence in that."
