Mumford back for GWS final pre-season game

Greater Western Sydney are confident leading ruckman Shane Mumford will turn out in their final NAB Challenge match on Sunday against Brisbane.

Mumford was taken from the field early in last week’s win over Sydney, but coach Leon Cameron said he would train on Friday with the expectation of flying to Brisbane for the match.

“He had a couple of bones jamming up against one another in his foot and there was a bit of pain coming on the back end of the first quarter last week,” Cameron said.

“The guys have done a bit of work on him and we’re confident he’s going to get up for Sunday.”

The Giants will treat the match as a dress rehearsal for round one, and also welcome back Stephen Coniglio from a hamstring strain, while Devon Smith will play his first game of the pre-season after recovering from a knee injury.

Joel Patfull still remains a hope of making his first pre-season appearance after enduring a difficult 12 months, during which he has overcome two broken ribs and a punctured lung before breaking his clavicle in a motorcycle accident in Bali.

He was named in the 27-man squad, but could be cut to play big minutes instead on Saturday in the club’s reserves fixture.

“Joel has had an interrupted pre-season so we’ll be mindful of pushing him really, really quickly,” Cameron said.

“If he doesn’t make the cut for the Sunday game, he’ll play another 100 minutes here on Saturday which is building up nicely to be ready for the early part of the season.”

Tim Mohr (knee) and Nick Haynes (groin) have also both returned to training, but are unlikely to be ready for the club’s round-one away match on March 26 against Melbourne.

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