Swans coach John Longmire said the pair, who missed the majority of the pre-season recovering from hip and knee complaints, respectively, were likely to play limited game time this Saturday.
“Marty Mattner and Nick Smith come back into the team; they are important players in the back six obviously with Alex Johnson going out,” Longmire told SwansTV.
“They won’t play the entire game but they will probably play a half each, so they’ll come back in and it will be good to see them again at senior level for the first time in 2013.”
In addition to Alex Johnson, who tore his anterior cruciate ligament last weekend, premiership players Ted Richards and Mike Pyke will also miss this weekend’s match.
“Ted Richards’ ankle was a little bit sore last week, which is a different injury from what he had last year, so he’ll have this week off,” Longmire said.
Longmire also said Pyke, who has played in the Swans’ last two NAB Cup matches, will remain in Sydney to support his wife, who is expecting the birth of their first child this weekend.
“Mike Pyke has got the birth of his child that could happen at any tick of the clock, so he’s staying here in Sydney and probably will have a run around with the reserves,” he said.
In the absence of three senior players, Longmire said up-and-coming defenders Tony Armstrong and Dane Rampe will get another chance to prove themselves this weekend.
“Tony Armstrong has done pretty well, Dane Rampe has done well, so those players will play again this week and will get another opportunity as well.”
Longmire added that Swans forward/ruck option Jesse White will also get another opportunity to step up to the plate with Pyke out of the team this weekend.
“Jesse has been going OK in the ruck and has been competitive in there in the last couple of weeks and has done a good job for us,” he said.
“He’s also been playing a bit forward for us and has been providing a forward target for us and has been another big body in the forward half.
“He played enormous minutes last week and will play big minutes again this week, so he’s getting his opportunity to really put his stamp on it and hopefully he grabs it with both hands.”
Premiership forward Mitch Morton will also make his return to the field for 2013 this weekend, but will line up in the reserves Saturday morning match at Lakeside Oval.
Despite not earning senior selection this week, Longmire said Morton was still in the mix for round one.
“He was campaigning pretty heavily for a senior game but we just thought with a couple of others who we need to get game time into as well this week that we would have compromised ourselves with someone along the way,” he said.
“We really want to make sure that Mitch is 100 per cent fit and he’ll get a really good hit-out in our twos this week and again next week.
“It will certainly still put him in the frame for round one, but he just needs to get some good game time into him.”
Sydney Swans Round 4 NAB Cup Squad
| 2 | SHAW | Rhyce |
| 3 | McVEIGH | Jarrad |
| 4 | HANNEBERY | Daniel |
| 5 | O'KEEFE | Ryan |
| 9 | MALCESKI | Nick |
| 12 | KENNEDY | Josh |
| 13 | EVERITT | Andrejs |
| 14 | BIRD | Craig |
| 15 | JACK | Kieren |
| 17 | WALSH | Tommy |
| 18 | WHITE | Jesse |
| 19 | ARMSTRONG | Tony |
| 20 | REID | Sam |
| 21 | McGLYNN | Ben |
| 22 | TOWERS | Dean |
| 23 | LOCKYER | Jordan |
| 24 | BOLTON | Jude |
| 26 | PARKER | Luke |
| 29 | MATTNER | Martin |
| 30 | ROBERTS-THOMSON | Lewis |
| 32 | JETTA | Lewis |
| 36 | BROWN | Alex |
| 37 | GOODES | Adam |
| 39 | GRUNDY | Heath |
| 40 | SMITH | Nick |
| 41 | MUMFORD | Shane |
| 43 | RAMPE | Dane |
