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Sydney’s loss to the GWS Giants on Saturday is going to be even more damaging to the club than expected with the Swans confirming on Sunday afternoon that Kurt Tippett and Callum Mills will both miss next week’s do-or-die semi-final due to injuries sustained in the game.
Tippett was confirmed to have suffered a hairline fracture in his jaw and will meet with a specialist tomorrow to work out his best course of action, but it’s clear that he won’t be ready to play this coming week regardless.
Callum Mills copped a hamstring injury during the match and while scans have revealed that it is a low-grade injury, it will be enough to keep him out of Saturday night’s game.
The Swans will play the Adelaide Crows at the SCG on Saturday night, with the winner going on to play in the second preliminary final against the Geelong Cats – while the loser will be eliminated from the competition.
The Crows will come into the match in red hot form after beating North Melbourne by more than ten goals last night. They didn’t have any injury concerns to come out of the match but will need to wait and see if Kyle Hartigan is suspended for tripping Lindsay Thomas.
While the Swans have the home ground advantage it’s a tough fixture all the same, up against one of the few clubs to have beaten them this year, and the absence of Tippett and Mills will make it all the harder.
With Tippett injured they’ll be forced to rely on an inexperienced ruck combo when going up against Adelaide’s Sam Jacobs who is widely recognised as one of the elite ruckmen of the competition.
Rising Star winner Mills is one of the key reasons that the Swans have had the least points scored against them on average of any team this season, and his absence too will be keenly felt.
Swans fans unfortunately will be reminded of last year’s finals series where mounting injuries saw them fall out of the race in straight sets despite finishing in the top four.
They now look to be at risk of receiving that fate once again, and will need to find some good answers – and quickly – to the problems facing them, if they want to avoid that embarrassment.
It’s a stark turnaround for a team who just a few days ago were considered the premiership favourites. Now they’re facing an uphill battle just to stay in the finals race.
The other big concern to come out of that game was for the Giants, with Steve Johnson at risk of being suspended after a collision with Josh P Kennedy. Callan Ward also had a shoulder injury mid game, but played out the match.
The weekend also saw Lin Jong suffer a season-ending shoulder injury for the Western Bulldogs, who play Hawthorn on Friday night.
The Hawks may lose Ryan Burton for that game due after he suffered “a pretty savage corkie to his lower leg”, in the words of Alastair Clarkson.