Mumford to help coach Giants’ young rucks

Greater Western Sydney will have a new coach in their ranks for the rest of the AFL season via injured ruckman Shane Mumford.

Mumford’s second year with the Giants was cut short last month following surgery on an injured ankle suffered in their round 11 loss to Collingwood.

The 29-year-old on Monday admitted to being frustrated at watching his teammates bid for a maiden finals berth from the sidelines, so has vowed to help develop understudies Rory Lobb and Tom Downie.

“If I’m going to be laying around doing six months of rehab, I need to be doing something to keep my mind active and busy,” Mumford, still in a moon boot and on crutches, told AAP.

“To help these young guys and progress them along, it’s obviously beneficial for the team and beneficial for me.

“I’m going to take more of a role in getting involved with going over their vision from the weekend and trying help them with things they could be doing differently.

“It’s something I might want to do after football, so to get a taste of trying to do a bit of ruck coaching now, it could be very handy for me.”

Lobb and Downie have played just 10 AFL games between them – 118 fewer than Mumford – but have racked up two wins in their past two matches against St Kilda and the Gold Coast.

The victories have pushed the Giants to seventh on the ladder, a position they could potentially secure with a triumph over Geelong in Canberra on Saturday.

Mumford lauded the efforts of the inexperienced young pair, suggesting he might have a tough time getting back into the side next season when he’s back to full fitness.

“We’ve had all these guys playing in (reserves) all year that have been fighting to get their chance – and to Rory and Tom’s credit, they’ve got their chance now and have both grabbed a hold of it,” he said.

“They probably surprised a few people with how well they actually are doing.

“They’re kicking more goals than I did all season – even with Rory’s funny run-up, he still manages to put them through.

“It just shows that we can cover key guys when they do go down and that’s exciting for the future really, to have these young guys step in.

“I’m just hoping I can get my spot back in the team when I am right to go.”

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