Swans defender Nick Smith has been ruled out of Saturday’s qualifying final with an ongoing hamstring complaint.

Smith, who was an absentee in last weekend’s win against Gold Coast, failed to take part in the main training session on Tuesday and was ruled out by coach John Longmire.

Suffered in the Round 22 win against St Kilda Smith’s hamstring strain will be monitored in the hope the All Australian defender will be available for the Swans’ second final – either a semi-final or prelim pending the result of Saturday’s clash at Domain Stadium.

It’s a significant blow for the Swans given Smith’s role on opposition small forwards of which Fremantle have several to choose from with the likes of Michael Walters and Haydn Ballantyne.

Smith joins Kieren Jack (knee), Luke Parker (leg) and Lance Franklin (illness) on the sidelines.

General Manager of Football Tom Harley said while those are significant losses Saturday’s clash offers an opportunity for the Swans’ depth to shine.

“They’re really good players so obviously we’d love all of them to play,” Harley said for the HCF Injury Update.

“But let’s not take anything away from the players that will come in.

“We’ve been able to extend our list this year, we’ve had three debutants and we’ve got further games into Dean Towers, Brandon Jack and Zak Jones.

“The depth is certainly there and we’ve been able to extended the list of players capable of playing at AFL level.”

Co-captain Jarrad McVeigh is a confirmed inclusion while Ben McGlynn is also in the mix.

While Smith is expected to be available next week, the Swans remain confident Jack and Parker can still play a role this finals series.