Hawthorn coach Sam Mitchell isn’t willing to underestimate the wounded Giants.
GWS hosts the Hawks on Saturday afternoon without at least seven of its best players through injury.
Finn Callaghan could be an eighth but the Giants are confident he will get through training unscathed.
Mitchell admits it’s hard not to look at the casualties but knows the Giants “bat really deep”.
“You look at their team sheet and we were chatting through their possible line-up, there’s no one out there that’s not more than capable,” he said.
“They bat really deep, of all the teams they’ve got one of those lists that have got some really strong top-end talent but also go long.
“We look at their team, they’ve obviously brought in a couple of guys, (Clayton) Oliver in particular, he’s been really strong over the pre-season.
“They lose Tom Green, so there’s a similarity but a difference in the way those two guys play.
“Finn Callaghan coming back in, potentially, so there’s another one we have to look at, so they’re going to be a strong side.”
The Hawks, returning to the scene of their elimination final win last year, will put defender Tom Barrass through a fitness test of their own.
Barrass recovered slowly from the State of Origin last month but Mitchell expects him to take part in Opening Round.
“I expect him to get up, he’s a test today, so he’ll do a couple of extra things to make sure he’s OK, but we were pretty conservative in making sure he was ready to go,” he said.
“He’s missed a lot of footy in his career, played a lot in his first 12 months with us, but he’s not a guy who’s got to play every minute of the pre-season to get himself right.
“He’s an experienced campaigner and (I) expect him to play.”
https://thewest.com.au/news/afl-2026-sam-mitchell-warns-of-gws-depth-despite-injuries-c-21840693
