Giants coach Adam Kingsley confirmed two-time All-Australian defender Sam Taylor will return to face Melbourne in Alice Springs this week, pending he gets through training.
Taylor has been sidelined since suffering a serious hamstring injury in the State of Origin match in February, before another setback in March prolonged his return.
Defender Lachie Whitfield was a late out for the Giants clash on the weekend due to a hamstring injury suffered at training on Friday, but Kingsley assured there is no damage and he is in the conversation to come back into the side against the Demons.
"There's no damage there, it's just a bit of a tendonitis type of injury and it just sort of flared up at training on Friday," Kingsley explained on SEN.
"There's every chance that he could come back into the team this week but we'll see how he trains and pulls up from training throughout the week."
Key defender Jack Buckley is expected to miss a month of football following a hamstring injury he sustained against the Lions.
Jesse Hogan hasn't been sighted since Round 8 with a hip-pointer issue, but is tipped to return after the club's Round 13 bye.
"Training well, give him this week, then post bye week, he will be cherry ripe to come in."
Toby Bedford is also set to likely tag star Kysaiah Pickett on the weekend, with Kingsley confirming it's a "strong chance" this matchup will happen.
Bedford has historically been tasked with curbing the influence of the opposition's best players, and Pickett is Melbourne's barometer.
