Sydney Swans livewire Tom Papley will play his first game for the year after being named in the team to take on West Coast on Thursday night at Domain Stadium.
Papley is one of two inclusions for the Round 4 clash, with Harry Cunningham also selected in the final 22.
The duo replace last week’s debutant Jordan Dawson and ruckman Sam Naismith, who injured his knee at training this week.
Swans coach John Longmire said Papley is a welcome inclusion.
“It’s good to have him back in, he gives us great energy, he’s an important goal kicker for us,” Longmire told Centrum Team Selection.
“Tom’s ability to play as that small, crumbing forward in our front half has been really missed over the last few weeks so it’s good to have him back in and hopefully he’s really lively in our front half.”
Tippett, who missed last week’s game with an ankle injury, was given every chance to prove his fitness but ultimately fell short with the short turnaround and trip to Perth.
Also missing for the Swans against West Coast will be Naismith who injured his knee at training this week.
Longmire said he’s hopeful both will return soon.
“Unfortunately, Kurt didn’t get up – we gave him every chance,” Longmire said.
“He did a little bit of training but being a Thursday game it made it a bit tough for him to get up.
“Unfortunately, Sam Naismith hurt his knee at training in the last training drill, we wanted to give him every chance too, but unfortunately he hasn’t come up either so those two boys will miss this week and we’ll see how they go next week.”
While young ruckman Darcy Cameron was not available for selection after injuring his shoulder in the NEAFL last week, Longmire said he’s got full confidence Callum Sinclair can handle the workload.
“We got him for the reason to be able to come in and play really good, strong hard footy for four quarters and he’s got a big task ahead of him but he’s not the only one,” Longmire said.
“There’s plenty of others who have jobs ahead of them and I’m sure he’ll get a hand from a few of the boys.
“They’re looking forward to the challenge of taking on the Eagles here with a strong midfield.”
Click here to see for the full team.
