SYDNEY Swans coach Paul Roos says it is time to push Daniel Bradshaw's troublesome knee to the limit if the forward is to have any chance of featuring in the club's finals campaign.
Knee and hamstring injuries have prevented Bradshaw from playing since round nine but he has stepped up his workload in recent weeks and trained with the main group on Thursday night.
He is scheduled to test his fitness in a hit-out with the Swans reserves this weekend and Roos said it was do-or-die for the former Brisbane Lion.
"Really now, we just have to push him anyway. If we pushed him and he got slightly injured, he wouldn't have played anyway," he said.
"We won't throw him in definitely next week if he feels he's not confident and we feel he's not confident as well. There's still a lot of things that have got to go right for him to play next week."
While Bradshaw will miss a second encounter with his former club on Saturday night, Ryan O'Keefe and Jarred Moore will bolster the Swans' side for the Gabba clash.
Roos said the lure of earning a home elimination final with a win against the Lions would offset any potential emotional letdown after his side's stirring round 21 victory.
The Swans ensured Roos and retiring skipper Brett Kirk farewelled the SCG in style with a 44-point win against the Western Bulldogs, but the Swans coach said it had little to do with the significance of the occasion.
"They played well because we're in the finals and we're playing good footy at the moment. I don't think it really had much to do with Kirky and myself," he said.
"Had it been close late in the game, hopefully, maybe, that would have got them over the line a bit but it's just indicative of the way we're playing at the moment.
"We're in really good form and hopefully we don't need any external or internal motivation to get us through."
Midfielder Jarrad McVeigh said the club's first win over a top-four team in 2010 had given the players a welcome boost heading into the most crucial part of the season.
"There's a really good feeling among the group at the moment. We've got a lot of confidence and if we can get our hardness right and our contested footy, which we pride ourselves on, we'll go a long way," he said.
McVeigh, who lost five kilograms with a bout of food poisoning prior to the round 15 clash against North Melbourne, said he was fully recovered and back to his best, mirroring his teammates' recent return to form.
Roos gave a hint at the prize at stake against the Lions when referencing the Swans' recent strong form in finals at ANZ Stadium.
"The only team that was able to beat us out there was the great Brisbane team of 2003 and they won three premierships in a row," he said.
"We beat North Melbourne out there, we beat West Coast, we beat Freo in a preliminary final. Our form's exceptional at that venue in a final.
"I want to go in playing well in the first week of finals and clearly the better you play, the more chance you are of doing some damage."
