How GWS plan to shut down Swans danger man Amartey

The Giants will look to defenders Leek Aleer and Jack Buckley to shut down Sydney’s in-form forward Joel Amartey ahead of Saturday’s derby after losing star defender Sam Taylor to injury.

Amartey scored a career-high nine goals last Saturday against Adelaide, and the matter of how to stop him looms as a significant puzzle for the Giants coaching staff with Taylor unavailable having suffered a ruptured testicle in last Sunday’s win against Port Adelaide.

Taylor believes he suffered the injury in the third quarter, but still finished the game. The 2022 All-Australian had surgery this week and his return date is unknown by the Giants.

Defender Aleer has deputised ably for Taylor in the past and has successfully overcome his own injury difficulties, having missed most of last season with a ruptured ligament in his toe.

The 22-year-old debuted for the Giants against the Swans two years ago and is looking forward to matching up against the top team in the competition.

“I think they [the Swans] have some incredible ball winners, and they have some incredible [ball] hunters, they have players who get after it and with respect, we have that too.

Leek Aleer will help take on the responsibility of shutting down the Swans’ Joel Amartey on Saturday

“I think it will just come down to who wants it more at the end of the day, and we’re quite hungry at the moment. They’re sitting pretty at No.1 and deservedly: they’ve been playing some really good footy, but hopefully we can start knocking on that door and getting ourselves up on the ladder.”

Buckley was disappointed at his team’s previous 29-point loss to the Swans in their last meeting in round eight at a sodden SCG and will be looking to make amends for the performance at Sydney Olympic Park on Saturday.

“I think in that game they just handled the conditions a lot better than us, which is disappointing. They just smacked us in the contest,” Buckley said.

“They were tougher on that day, which was tough to review. The way they move the ball is amazing, but I mean, their defence is just as good.

Jack Buckley will play a key role in the Giants’ defence on Saturday

“We won’t be looking at changing a whole lot in terms of what we do, we will play our way and if we can do that for four quarters, we’ll just give ourselves the best chance and just trust that, that’s enough against the best team in the comp.”

Academy product Caiden Cleary will make his AFL debut in his first senior season for the Swans after impressing as a ball-winning midfielder in the VFL.

The Swans will have to wait a little longer for their captain, Callum Mills, to return to the side as he continues to recover from calf and shoulder injuries.

Mills said that his focus is on returning to match fitness before any conversations with coach John Longmire can happen about where he could fit in the Swans’ lineup as a midfielder or a halfback.

“We haven’t spoken about that [position change] actually, we just want to get the training under my belt and we’ll reassess where the team is at and where I’m at that stage,” Mills said.