GREATER Western Sydney will be without Aaron Cadman and Stephen Coniglio for Friday night's Derby against a red-hot Sydney after both suffered concussions in the 56-point win over Richmond.

GIANTS v TIGERS Full match coverage and stats

Coniglio was ruled out at half-time after an attempted smother saw Sam Banks' kicking shin connect with the veteran's head.

Cadman had shone on return from a pelvic issue, kicking three in the first quarter and four for the match, before he too was collected by a stray Tiger body part, this time Noah Balta's knee in a marking contest in the last term.

The Giants had finally seen some light at the end of the long injury tunnel, regaining Cadman, Brent Daniels (hamstring), Toby Bedford (hamstring) and Jack Buckley (concussion) ahead of the game against Richmond, but will be back to the drawing board to find replacements.

First-choice players Sam Taylor, Darcy Jones and Josh Kelly remain sidelined, while Tom Green is out for the year with a torn ACL.

"I thought (Cadman) was fantastic for us, hard to play on, always on the move and launching at the ball, finishing his work, (it's) disappointing. 'Cogs' is in the same boat unfortunately, so we'll be without those two boys," GWS coach Adam Kingsley said in his post-match press conference.

"I'm hesitant to say they're 'mild', but they're both feeling okay, so they'll go through the protocols, they'll work their way through them and hopefully be available for North Melbourne in a fortnight.

"We had Brent Daniels and Toby Bedford back in there too, they provided a little more support to Jesse (Hogan) and Jake (Riccardi) and Ollie Hannaford I thought was really good, he took another step forward in his second game. 

"We had a lot of positives ahead of the ball. That's probably a reflection too of some of the offence - I thought we attacked quite well, we overdid it at times, and that happens, but that looks a little better than what it has in the past three weeks."

The Giants piled on 20 goals against the lowly Richmond, but Kingsley forecasted improvement is needed in "everything" in order to match it with the ladder-leading Swans.

"They're going well. We know their threats, we know their strengths, our last outing was pretty strong against them, but they feel like they're in really, really good form. 

"A lot of weapons ahead of the ball, particularly through the midfield that get it forward, so we've got to prepare really well. A five-day break for us, so the bulk of our work has been done, but we'll prepare well and have a crack."

A flat Adem Yze watched his side concede eight first-quarter goals to completely rule themselves out of the match in the first half-hour. 

While the Tigers' ability to close the margin to 20 during the third term was a bright spark, there was no overlooking the horror start to the game.

"Really disappointing. Just spoke to the boys about it now. When you look across the whole game, numbers, inside 50s, clearances - I thought the response after quarter-time was a positive for the middle part of the game, but we just weren't up to standard for the first quarter," Yze said.

"To give up six goals from stoppage - one, it isn't the right way to play, and (two), it's not what you want to do on the road, at a different venue, things like that. We've got a young ruckman, and to start that way, we were just a little bit scattered around stoppage, and to give up that sort of start, the alarm bells were ringing. 

"The response in the second and third quarter was a positive, and to be right in the game, during the third quarter, to get back within 20 points, and I understand in the last quarter you're going to roll the dice and try different things and the scoreboard might blow out a little bit, but the first quarter was just frustrating and not up to standard, so we've just got to get to work."

Richmond debuted its Category B rookie in the ruck, former NBL player Ollie Hayes-Brown, who was sent to the suburban VAFA competition to learn the game in 2024.

"We needed a lift. Structurally, we didn't really change anything, there were a couple of little things we did around our set-up at centre bounce. 

"The response of a first-gamer that's played a handful of [Australian rules] footy, let alone any AFL games, was terrific for a young guy. The story's an amazing story, so for him to adjust and really crash in during that second quarter was exactly what we were after. 

"We were negative 16 in contested possession, and that's not the way we play. By half-time, we got that back to almost even."