Toby Greene looks dejected after a loss during round two, 2026. Picture: AFL Photos

GREATER Western Sydney could welcome back three key players for next week’s clash against Collingwood, with Aaron Cadman (pelvis), Toby Bedford (hamstring) and Brent Daniels (hamstring) all closing in on returns from their respective injuries.

It’s a welcome development for the Giants who have now lost two games in a row with an unchanged line-up. 

GIANTS v SAINTS Full match coverage and stats

“I think we’re on track to get a few of the boys back: Cadman, Bedford, Daniels,” Giants coach Adam Kingsley said following Saturday afternoon’s four-point loss to St Kilda.

“So far, so good. We’ll see how that unfolds. They’ve still got two sessions to get through next week before they’re eligible to be picked so we’ll make an assessment based on their availability and the level of risk towards the end of next week.”

02:54

Kingsley lamented his side’s sluggish start after a 50-minute lightning delay, with his charges uncharacteristically fumbly with the footy and inaccurate in front of goal. 

"Our inability to finish our work when we had opportunities was really disappointing,” he said.

“I listened to [St Kilda coach] Ross [Lyon]’s press conference last week and I think he summed it up that sometimes the game can be dropped marks, dropped handball-receives, missed tackles, fumbled ground balls and to be fair I thought that was largely us tonight. We didn’t execute that aspect of the game, the fundamentals, anywhere near enough to win a game against a strong opposition."

04:51

Kingsley wasn’t the only one paying attention to opposition coaches, with Lyon spotting next week’s adversary - Brisbane coach Chris Fagan - in the crowd at Engie Stadium.

“Chris Fagan was here watching in person, so he’s not breathing out is he? He’s got two cups and he’s rolling up, eating a Subway [sandwich]. He had plenty of space in the stands though, like he wasn’t crowded in the stands,” Lyon mused post-game. 

"But he strapped it on, it’s an insight to his mindset and the drive and the club we’re coming up against, so we’ll have to be on our mettle to compete against the back-to-back premier.” 

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After two disappointing losses to start the season, Lyon was pleased to notch a win but conceded it wasn't a perfect performance.

“We’ll take that, but there’s obviously a lot of learnings as well. We won’t get ahead of ourselves but it’s nice to get off the mark and pop that balloon,” he said.

"We made our own luck... I think we deserved that win...It got tighter than we’d like at the end."

04:46

In contrast to Kingsley’s frustration with his side’s lacklustre start, Lyon said he thought his side handled the lightning delay well.

“I thought our group [were] relaxed, they were singing [Bruce Springsteen's] 'Dancing in the Dark' before they went out, they were pretty chilled,” he said.

“We wanted to come in healthy, leave with sore legs, sore throats and sore minds.”

After being ruled out of the match in the second term with a hamstring complaint, defender Anthony Caminiti will undergo what Lyon dubbed "investigations" to determine the extent of the injury.