Star Giant Stephen Coniglio to miss first month of AFL season

Coniglio will spend two weeks in a protective boot before beginning rehabilitation on the high ankle sprain, likely to rule him out for at least the first four rounds.

The 23-year-old was promoted to vice-captain just three days before his left leg twisted nastily underneath an Andrew Swallow tackle in the third quarter, and forced him to hobble from the ground.

Key defender Aidan Corr will also miss round one against the Adelaide Crows but has been cleared of a broken hand after landing awkwardly from a contest early on against the Kangaroos.

Corr was diagnosed with a capsular injury at the base of his hand and may also miss further games after meeting with a specialist on Monday, who instructed him to wear a splint for the next fortnight before a more accurate assessment of his immediate future is made.

Matthew Buntine, who replaced Corr on Friday night against the Kangaroos, will likely be selected as his replacement in round one against the Crows' towering forward line.

"We'd like to think we can cover it, he was in our starting 22 on the weekend so we would've loved for him to get through and play well but Matthew Buntine came on and played really well in place of him," Giants head of football Wayne Campbell said.

"I'm sure Leon [Cameron] and the coaches will come up with a way to try and nullify the Adelaide forwards who are in really good form."

The Giants are no strangers to syndesmosis injuries with Caleb Marchbank suffering a similar affliction last year. Corr himself also hurt his ankle early in the 2016 AFL season, going down with a deltoid ligament strain.

Campbell said Coniglio's ankle injury was an untimely blow after an impressive pre-season.

"You feel for the individual when he gets to this point and misses round one which is no more important than any other round but in the player's mind they just want to play round one," Campbell said.

"All clubs get injuries and we've just got to cover for them but you feel for the individual. To put in such a good power of work both on the field and with his elevation to vice-captain, his leadership's growing as well.

"We certainly feel for him but we just have to deal with it."

Steve Johnson was the only other injury concern out of Friday night's clash after leaving the field early with concussion. He'll be monitored this week but should be right for round one.

Meanwhile, Giants forwards Jeremy Cameron and Toby Greene are expected to take early guilty pleas on Tuesday after being cited by the Match Review Panel for separate incidents in the fourth quarter of the North Melbourne game.

Cameron was charged with striking Scott Thompson, with the contact assessed as intentional but with low impact to the body, while Greene was charged with misconduct towards Sam Wright.

Both players have no applicable record that would impact the penalty, and can accept $1000 fines with early pleas which would allow them to play in round one.