Swans injury update: Dan Menzel before the bye, Naismith unknown return date

Speaking to Swans TV Injury Update today, Sydney Swans Head of Football Charlie Gardner confirmed Dan Menzel strained an adductor at training last week.

Menzel, who missed the JLT Community Series and has had a limited pre-season after undergoing groin surgery in December, strained his adductor in the final training session last week.

While he was unlikely to be selected in the opening month of football, his injury has delayed his Swans debut by another month.

Head of Football Charlie Gardner was positive with the prognosis and expects Menzel to return to full training by mid April.

"Daniel Menzel picked up an adductor strain at training last week," Gardner said.

"It's unfortunate for Daniel who was progressing well in his training and was in full training.

"This is a set back for Daniel and we expect him to be back training in two or three weeks, and hopefully return to play in four or five weeks."

The outlook for ruckman Sam Naismith is less clear, with a return date to senior football now unknown.

The 26-year-old, who last played in the Swans' 2017 Semi-Final loss to Geelong, injured his right ACL during a training exercise in the 2018 pre-season.

Naismith underwent a knee arthroscopy on Wednesday last week to clear up scar tissue from the reconstruction.

Gardner expects that the 28-gamer will make a quick recovery from the surgery and return to running.

"Sam Naismith suffered from some knee pain in the back of his knee as he increased his running loads," Gardner said.

"The decision was made to undertake an arthroscope, and he had a bit of a clean up of some scar tissue in the knee, which we went well.

"Recovery can be relatively quick, so we're hoping to see him back running soon.

"The return date is still unknown and won't be until later in the season."

Veteran midfielder Kieran Jack made his return to football on the weekend with forwards Tom McCartin and Ben Ronke from injury, in their practice match against the Canberra Demons.

Jack, McCartin and Ronke made it through the game unscathed, with Gardner expecting McCartin and Jack to play at least one more game in the NEAFL before being available for senior football.

"Kieran got through a full game in our reserves against Canberra Demons," Gardner said.

"He played well and got some good conditioning in.

"He'll play again in the reserves this week and will be pushing for senior selection.

"Tom McCartin played also in our reserves this weekend.

"He did a full game and go through, which is fantastic, given some of the challenges he's faced in the pre-season.

"It was great to see him back out there.

"He'll play more minutes this week and he'll be another that will be putting his hand up for selection."

Player Injury Time
Nick Smith Illness / Hamstring 1-2 Weeks
Dan Menzel Groin 6-8 Weeks
Sam Naismith Knee Indefinite
Matthew Ling Toe Indefinite
Durak Tucker Knee Indefinite
Jack Maibaum Knee Season
Kurt Tippett Retired

Sydney Swans Injury Update - AFL Injury List

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Justin Mitchell

Justin is a passionate AFL and Sydney Swans supporter, and football blogger since 2016. All articles are of his own opinion. You can reach him by twitter and Facebook at @theswansblog

Melbourne, Australia https://theswansblog.com

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