DASHING Sydney Swans defender Rhyce Shaw will miss the club's finals campaign after rupturing the ACL in his right knee against Geelong at Simonds Stadium on Saturday evening.
But there was some relief for Swans fans ahead of next week's crucial match up against top-of-the-ladder Hawthorn, with star midfielder Dan Hannebery cleared of serious injury.
The Swans feared Hannebery had injured the medial ligament in his right knee after he wrenched it when tackled in the third term. He seemed to be in a fair bit of discomfort and limped from the ground in the hands of trainers.
"It was just a bad corky," Swans coach John Longmire said of Hannebery's injury after the game. "We were worried it was going to be a medial or something at the time".
Shaw, 31, has battled injury worries for much of this season after suffering an abdominal tear in round two against Gold Coast. He was only just finding his way back in to the team, having returned to the Swans' lineup in round 19 against the Western Bulldogs.
The 192-gamer suffered an ACL tear in his left knee while playing for Collingwood back in 2005.
"He's had an ACL years ago, but he's had an ACL on the other knee now – which is unfortunate," Longmire said.
"For a bloke who's had a really difficult year, to come down here and do an ACL in the first 10 minutes was disappointing, and even more disappointing for the rest of the year."
Longmire said Shaw was shattered by the diagnosis, but realistic given his football experience.
"I spoke to him after the game. He's obviously been around football a long time and he was disappointed, where he felt it go and knew exactly what it was at the time.
"He's extremely disappointed. (It's) our second one for the year. One at the start of the year (Alex Johnson) and one at the end of the year.
"He's disappointed to be missing but he's already talking about (having) the operation as soon as he can, and trying to get his head in to a good space for the off-season."
Longmire said Geelong's pressure around the ball was the impetus behind its 44-point win.
The Cats dominated the tackle count 95-65, and shared the ball superbly to lead the uncontested possessions 238-193.
"Clearly we've come up against a team that's in red hot form. They put enormous pressure on around the ball and they're as good a team (that's) going around, and when they get that mix right they're very hard to beat," Longmire said.
"We came down here with eight players that didn't play at the end of last year and we all got a taste of what it's like to play the best at their best and that's certainly what happened today."
