GWS could pick Aaron Cadman after a trio of injuries from round 1

Injuries hit GWS hard after a round 1 win, and that could fast-track the debut of a draft star.

No.1 draft pick Aaron Cadman is closing in on his GWS debut. Picture: Phil Hillyard

The Giants are weighing up whether to unleash No.1 draft pick Aaron Cadman, with a bunch of young players set to replace a trio of injured stars.

Josh Kelly and Lachie Whitfield have pulled up well after both suffered concussions in the come-from-behind win over Adelaide, and GWS coach Adam Kingsley expects both to be available for their clash with Carlton in round 3.

Midfielder Harry Perryman will also miss at least a month with a hamstring setback.

Finn Callaghan starred on a wing but the damaging second-year midfielder may be thrown into the centre-bounce mix to fill the void of Kelly and Whitfield.

“There’s a chance, certainly really happy with his role in the wing, I thought he played extremely well. But we are now down Perryman and Kelly from that midfield and we need to fill the void in there and certainly Finn has that potential,” Kingsley said.

Coach Adam Kingsley celebrates his first win as a coach. Picture: Phil Hillyard

Kingsley said No.1 pick Cadman, Giants Academy graduate Harry Rowston, 2020 first-round draftees Conor Stone and Ryan Angwin all impressed in their VFL practice match against the Swans.

Cadman gave Giants match selection plenty to think about with a bag of goals after being left out of their round 1 side, but Kingsley said the club was in no rush to blood the talented tall.

“Certainly through the midfield Harry Rowston and Cooper Hamilton were really strong for us. Ryan Angwin played well on a wing, Conor Stone was impressive up front, Aaron Cadman booted five or six goals in the end. (Callum) Brown from behind the ball was really, really strong,” he said.

“Cads has a really strong game so he is continually putting his hand up, so we’ll have a decision to make at some point, whether that is next week or beyond, around ‘do we want to see him at AFL level right now? What’s the mix? Can we play four talls?’

Kingsley may yet give Aaron Cadman a debut. Picture: Phil Hillyard

“But we’re in no rush to play him, he’s here for a career not for the first month of the season. We have been really pleased with his progress over the summer and he performed really well over the weekend, but (if) he doesn’t get in this weekend, he will keep plugging away, he’s a real competitor.”

Scans have confirmed a surprise quad injury for intercept defender Leek Aleer – a late withdrawal against the Crows – that will sideline him for a month.

Aleer was sent for scans after soreness remained from their captain’s run and it remains unclear what caused the setback, with the blow coming as a surprise to Kingsley.

“There was no incident, that was the weird thing to put our finger on, there was no incident at training,” Kingsley said. “He got through main training fully with a little bit of soreness.

“We were really comfortable with Jack Buckley coming in, but (Aleer) has since had a scan which has revealed a little bit more damage than we expected.”

Originally published as GWS could pick Aaron Cadman after a trio of injuries from round 1