The best news of the bye is that the Swans are expected to head into the elimination final against Essendon on Saturday afternoon injury free, following a strong showing at training on Tuesday.
All but two players (Cameron - season, Fox - knee) are expected to be available for selection, with Dan Hannebery, Tom Papley, Callum Sinclair, Kurt Tippett and Sam Naismith all in the mix having recovered from their injuries.
While Hannebery has carried niggles throughout the season, Swans head of football Tom Harley said that he's expected to play against Essendon this weekend.
“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," Harley said.
Sam Naismith, who's missed the last four home and away games since injuring his hip against Hawthorn in round 19, made a successful return via last Saturday's NEAFL preliminary final, collecting 17 disposals and amassing 40 hit outs in a dominant display.
“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.
All five players are expected to train in today's main session and will have to train strongly to give the selectors something to think about when the match committee comes together to pick the final 22.
“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.
“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.”
| Robbie Fox (R) | Ankle | Test |
| Darcy Cameron | Shoulder | Season |
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