GWS Giants say Toby Greene will be right for Round 1

GWS forward Toby Greene has taken nearly four months to fully recover from a broken little toe and only returned to training this week but the Giants insist he will “definitely” play Round 1.

SYDNEY, AUSTRALIA - SEPTEMBER 16: Toby Greene of the Giants celebrates a goal during the 2017 AFL First Semi Final match between the GWS Giants and the West Coast Eagles at Spotless Stadium on September 16, 2017 in Sydney, Australia. (Photo by Michael Willson/AFL Media/Getty Images)

GREATER Western Sydney says Toby Greene will “definitely” play Round 1 — barring any setbacks — despite the star forward returning to training only this week.

Greene, 24, who falls out of contract this year, has taken nearly four months to fully recover from a broken little toe that the Giants initially described as minor and didn’t believe would cause him to miss any of the pre-season.

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The influential goalkicker was injured when his left foot accidentally struck a wall while he was on an October holiday with friends in New York.

He was in a moon boot until mid-December.

GWS general manager of football Wayne Campbell said the injury had been difficult.

“It’s a bad break of the little toe. I don’t know if you can have a good break, but this was a more complex break,” Campbell said.

“You put a fair bit of load through that part of the foot. We kept him off his legs for a fair period of time, so it hasn’t been significantly slower than what we thought.

“He’s joined in training. We think he’s a chance to play JLT2 (against Sydney on March 9), barring any mishaps, as is always said.”

Toby Greene injured his foot while on holidays. Michael Klein

The Giants want to secure Greene to a new long-term deal after two stellar seasons, and his signature is a priority for new list manager Jason McCartney.

After winning the best-and-fairest and All-Australian selection in a breakout 2016, Greene backed up with a career-high 45 goals last year despite missing six games through suspensions and injury.

He could command as much as $1 million on the open market according to Melbourne great Garry Lyon, but Campbell was optimistic it wouldn’t get to that.

“Yes, Toby is out of contract at the end of the year, but we’ll progress talks with (manager) Paul Connors and we’re pretty confident Toby is going to be here for the long term. We’d be pretty confident we’ll come to some sort of agreement,” he said.

“We’re becoming more normalised as a club. For example, we used to have 50 players on our list so we had to cut numbers, but we’ve been here six years now and Toby’s been here six years.

The Giants say Greene will be ready for Round 1. Picture: Getty Images

“Jon Patton signed, Tom Scully signed, Jeremy Cameron signed. We’ve had some players leave, but we’ve also had a hell of a lot stay.

“The feedback we get from the players and their managers is that they love Sydney and they love the club. We’ve had players leave, but sometimes that’s for more opportunity and we understand that.”

After a hellish run of injuries last year, the GWS medical room is relatively free ahead of a new campaign, with Adam Kennedy (knee), Matt Buntine (knee) and Zac Williams (achilles) the only long-term casualties. Brett Deledio (achilles) and Ryan Griffen (syndesmosis) are on track for the season-opener.

Shane Mumford’s retirement has sparked a battle between Rory Lobb and the improving Dawson Simpson to become his ruck replacement.

“They’re fighting it out at the moment and it’s a good contest,” Campbell said.

“Dawson has just improved absolutely out of sight. He’s changed his body and become a really good player. ‘Lobby’ had a bit of a groin in the off season, but he’s back in full training now.”