The Sydney Swans are expected to have a clean bill of health leading into Saturday's Elimination Final against Essendon following a strong showing at training on Tuesday.
All but two players on the Sydney Swans list are expected to be available for this weekend's round of finals matches at the SCG, with Dan Hannebery, Tom Papley, Sam Naismith, Kurt Tippett and Callum Sinclair in the mix for Elimination Final against the Bombers.
Hannebery (hip) and Papley (knee) missed the win over Carlton with respective injuries, while Tippett and Sinclair was forced from the ground during the Round 23 clash at the SCG with ankle injuries but recovered to play out the match.
Sam Naismith, who's missed the last four games of the season with an abdominal strain, made a successful return via Saturday's NEAFL Preliminary Final, collecting 17 disposals and 40 hit-outs to press his case for a senior recall.
All five are expected to train fully and strongly on Thursday to give the selectors something to think about when match committee comes together to pick the final 22 who’ll fight for a spot in the semi-finals.
“Sam Naismith has a really strong performance in the NEAFL … he was able to do a fair bit of conditioning leading in. He played in excess of 80 minutes and was in good form so he’s certainly available this week,” Harley confirmed in HCF Injury Update.
“We should have a full complement of ruck stocks available … the bye has certainly been beneficial for (Kurt and Callum). It’s hard to know whether they would have got up to play if there was a game last week, I suspect they probably would have so that’s positive.
“Obviously having that extra week was beneficial for Dan (Hannebery). He’s had a strong, solid season. He’s fought his way through some niggles along the way. Expect to see Dan on Saturday night against the Bombers.
“It was good to see a full complement of players running around, Tom (Papley) was certainly one of those. He hadn’t done a lot of training up until (Tuesday) so that was a good hurdle for him to clear. We’re not expecting any issues with Tom and expect to see him on Saturday.”
Only ruckman Darcy Cameron (shoulder) and utility Robbie Fox (ankle) remain sidelined with injury out of the Sydney Swans’ entire 46-strong playing list.
