Big guns on the verge of return as Giants shoot for the top four

All three did what was expected of them at the club's main training session for the week on Tuesday, leaving the Giants' brains trust with some thinking to do at the selection table.

Of the three, Cameron is rated the best chance to line up in Canberra given he has missed just the one week with a minor calf issue.

The Giants were simply not prepared to take any risk with the superstar forward, who is five goals clear in the race for the Coleman Medal with three rounds to play.

Kelly is also coming back from a calf problem, though he has not played since straining the muscle in the club's loss to Brisbane in round 16.

Kelly has already missed four games, the upper end of the Giants' three- to four-week timeframe, so is well placed to return, even with the club's conservative stance with injuries this year.

De Boer would be making a shock return if he was to come back this week, given the Giants had not expected him until round 22 at the earliest.

"At this stage if Jeremy gets through training he's probably a chance to play, at this stage in the same boat as Josh Kelly," the Giants' head of football Wayne Campbell said.

"Josh has been out for a bit longer time but he's also a chance along with Matt de Boer. We're training this afternoon so if they all get through training they're all a chance to play."

Stephen Coniglio will be sidelined for a further five weeks with his knee injury, which means he will not play before the second week of the finals.

The Giants have defied a lengthy injury list to remain in the hunt for a top-four berth with wins over Collingwood, Port Adelaide and Sydney - the latter two by a combined total of three points.

Leon Cameron's men are out of the four by a win but have a relatively soft run home with games against the Hawks in Canberra under the Friday night lights, Western Bulldogs and Gold Coast - all clubs outside the eight.

The Giants were humiliated by the Hawks in May in arguably their worst performance of the season, managing just five goals in a 33-point loss.

"We learned a lot of lessons about ourselves," captain Phil Davis said. "We've addressed a fair bit of that this year.

"It's nice to be reminded what they did well against us and make sure we counteract that by bringing what we need to do really well.

"First and foremost that let us down was our contested ball. We pride ourselves in that area, we've got to make sure that's very strong Friday night."

The defence has stood strong for the Giants, who are shooting for four consecutive wins for the first time this year.

A feature has been the marking of Nick Haynes, whose ability to intercept has bailed out the Giants and set up numerous counter attacks.

"He's number two or three [in the league] for intercept marks," Davis said.

"His ability to read the ball is a huge part of why we've been so successful in recent weeks. He's a terrific player. If he was in Victoria he'd have a much bigger reputation than he does.

"We understand up here he's a big part of why we play well."