‘Not taking this risk’: BRUTAL decision could loom for Longmire as Swans skipper suffers setback

Sydney captain Callum Mills has been ruled out of his club’s preliminary final next Friday night with a minor strain to his left hamstring.

In a club statement, the Swans confirmed that the 27-year-old injured the muscle at training on Tuesday, with scans confirming a level of damage.

Mills missed the first 16 games of Sydney’s season this year with a mixture of shoulder and calf injuries, before playing six games to close out the home-and-away season.

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Discussing the news as it broke on AFL 360, the panel dissected the now extraordinarily tight timeline the 2022 All-Australian winger now faces, should his side go through to play on the last Saturday in September.

“It happened on September 10, so should they make the Grand Final, it is September 28 – that is a very tight timeline in September,” AFL 360 host Gerard Whateley said on Wednesday night.

“It’s an 18-day turnaround for a 21-day injury; it’s going to be an interesting grand final week if they get there, that’s going to be all the talk – it’s almost Max Holmes (in 2022) all over again. He’ll be pushing his case, he’s the captain,” St Kilda great Leigh Montagna added.

Sydney coach John Longmire unfortunately has recent history of tough decisions come grand final time in recent years, with now-retired veteran Sam Reid battling an adductor injury – eventually playing through the pain in their miserable 81-point loss.

“He (Longmire) did it with Sam Reid a couple of years ago, and it flopped – big time. People have got to learn their lessons in finals; they won’t do that again, surely not.” AFL 360 co-host Mark Robinson explained.

“How bad is it though? We’ve scanned it, they’ve found a bleed, but I think you’ve still got to give it a bit of time,” King questioned, before exposing the brutal reality that Mills, Longmire and the Swans will be in should they win next Friday night.

“They’ll put him through some sort of test grand final week, and he either breaks or he doesn’t,” he exclaimed.

“The bottom line is, John Longmire is 1-3 in grand finals – he’s not taking this risk, he’s just not. They’re too hard to win, they’re too hard to get too… you just can’t take the risk.”

The Swans beat GWS by one goal in last week’s qualifying final at the SCG, giving John Longmire’s side an extra week off than its eventual opponent next week.

They will play either Port Adelaide or Hawthorn, who clash for the right to play the Swans on Friday night at the Adelaide Oval.