Sydney Swans forward Sam Reid is progressing well in his recovery after undergoing surgery on his injured quadricep tendon last Thursday.
The Swans have issues in their big man department, with ruckman Sam Naismith ruled out for the season with an ACL injury, and Kurt Tippett who retired before the start of the season.
Reid went under the knife last Thursday after consulting a specialist who believed the chances of recurrence would be minimised through surgery.
Swans Head of Football Tom Harley confirmed that surgery was necessary to improved Reid's recovery.
“Like all long-term injury prospects, we like to think that we explore all opportunities to get the best outcome for club and player, and that was certainly the path with Sam,” Harley said.
“Given the tendon damage nature of his injury, he consulted with the specialist and he had surgery on Thursday.
“The prognosis to return and play is the same, that 8-to-10 week period, and we would like to think that the chance of a recurrence and ability to get stronger again is all in Sam's favour.”
Luckless defender Alex Johnson has suffered another setback in his return to football, as the Swans sweat on the fitness of their key backman ahead of the blockbuster clash against Adelaide on Friday night.
Luckily, this time it wasn’t his troublesome knee, but pain experienced at the site of his groin problem that he had operated on two months ago.
Swans Head of Football Tom Harley has not placed a return date on Johnson yet.
“Alex has recovered from his knee which has been the primary cause of his frustration for 5 years now, which is great,” Harley said.
“Whilst ramping up his training he had some groin soreness pre-Christmas. He had that operated on. Hes had a minor setback, just at the site where the surgery was.
“Not so much a re-strain but we've had to take the foot off the gas for a couple of weeks. Alex will continue after about a two-week spell.”
The Swans are hopeful Johnson can return to the NEAFL within six weeks. Johnson has undergone five knee reconstructions after tearing his ACL during the 2013 pre-season.
He made an emotional return to the NEAFL side last season, playing nine games. Johnson was delisted by the Swans and re-drafted as a rookie in the off-season.
Fellow defender Lewis Melican is expected to return in two weeks, although unlikely to be available for the Adelaide game given the short turn around.
“It was a minor hamstring strain for Lewis. We'll see how he is early in the piece, we're playing the crows on Friday night,” Harley said.
“It's a tight turnaround but we'll give him every chance but (he’s) recovering well.”
If Melican misses, the Swans may opt to swing Aliir Aliir back into defence, who played his first game of the season and first since round 4, 2017.
Aliir was used in attack against the Western Bulldogs on Saturday afternoon, but had almost no impact on the game, collecting just 5 disposals and a single behind.
There were mitigating circumstances, given it was his first game in over a year at AFL level, was short of fitness and match practice after an ankle injury in JLT 1, and typically plays his best football as a defender.
Midfielder Jordan Dawson’s return to football is still unknown, battling an on-going recurring quad injury, first suffered in the second half of the pre-season.
The Swans won’t set a return date for Dawson yet, as he’s had to reset his training program after another minor setback.
“Jordan Dawson's had a wretched run through the second half of the pre-season with an on-going recurring quad injury,” Swans Head of Football Tom Harley said.
“He's in a strength building phase at the moment, not so much a setback, but a reset of program for him.
“We're a bit reluctant to put a definitive return to play date, he needs to be able to go through strength, form and fitness running.”
More to come throughout the week.
| Lewis Melican | Hamstring | Test |
| Toby Pink (R) | Ankle | 5 Weeks |
| James Bell R | Hamstring | 6 Weeks |
| Jordan Foote | Toe | 6 Weeks |
| Alex Johnson (R) | Groin | 6 Weeks |
| Sam Reid | Quad | 10 Weeks |
| Jordan Dawson | Quad | N/A |
| Sam Naismith | Knee | Season |
| Kurt Tippett | Retired |
Sydney Swans Injury Update - AFL Injury List
Like what you’re getting? Want more Swans Blog, and the chance to have your input into our site and what we create? We have additional content weekly on our Patreon Service. This is your avenue, what are you waiting for? Sign up today and get more content like this.
If you'd like to support us, you can head over to our Red Bubble Swans Blog Shop, and purchase one of our hideously overpriced mugs, stickers or notebooks. Help keep The Swans Blog alive.
Since you're here...
... we have a small favour to ask. More people are reading The Swans Blog than ever, but we don't accept advertising, and don't want to do so in the future. Unlike many other news and media organisations, fan forums and fan media, we haven't put up a paywall, or displayed ads - we want to keep our content as open as possible.
The Swans Blog is an independent fan blog and community platform. Our content takes a lot of time and hard work to produce. We do it because we love what we do and we believe our perspective matters - because it may be your perspective too.
If everyone who reads our blog, who likes it, is supporting it, our future would be much more secure.
Want instant access to the latest blog and news content from The Swans Blog?
Download our Android App from Google Play today.