Injured Sydney pair Kurt Tippett and Tom Mitchell have been ruled out of Saturday’s AFL preliminary final against Fremantle in Perth.
Tippett (knee) is a chance of returning for the grand final, should the Swans defeat the Dockers, while Mitchell requires season-ending ankle surgery.
Tippett limped off in the seventh minute of the Swans’ semi-final win over Carlton and was substituted soon after, while Mitchell’s night also ended in the first quarter.
Sydney coach John Longmire confirmed on Monday that Mitchell would go under the knife to repair torn ligaments, while Tippett wouldn’t be risked on the weekend due to a strained ligament at the top of his fibula.
It continues a season of injury woe for the reigning premiers, but Longmire remained upbeat the squad’s depth would shine through once again.
“We’ll have a look at the whiteboard, it’ll have another good working over this week,” Longmire said.
“Our reserves went to Canberra yesterday and had a good win down there, so we’ll get someone else to come in and fill those blokes’ roles.”
Ben McGlynn has overcome a minor calf strain and will return against the Dockers, while Longmire went to Canberra to watch the reserves’ win in the NEAFL Eastern Conference grand final and said Brandon Jack and Tony Armstrong were among those to impress.
“So we feel like we’ve got some players that can come into the team,” Longmire said.
Dual premiership player Lewis Roberts-Thomson is the closest the Swans have to a like-for-like replacement for Tippett, with Sam Reid (quad), Tommy Walsh (hamstring) and Adam Goodes (knee) all done for the season.
However the NEAFL final on Sunday was Roberts-Thomson’s first hit-out since injuring his knee on April 19 in the round-four clash with Geelong.
Given the versatile veteran’s extended time on the sidelines, it’s doubtful the Swans will risk him against the Dockers given the stakes are so high.
“I’m not sure whether he’ll play this week, but he’s certainly played 80 minutes of footy and looked to be moving OK,” Longmire said.
“He pulled up well this morning. So that’s a good sign, it means we’ve got a decision to make.”
