The Sydney Swans have regained skipper Jarrad McVeigh and young gun Callum Mills for Saturday’s Grand Final.
McVeigh (calf) and Mills (hamstring) both faced a race against clock to be fit in time for the premiership decider after battling respective injury concerns stemming from separate finals matches.
Both completed what was required of them during the week and have subsequently been named to take on the Western Bulldogs at the MCG.
Speaking for this year’s final edition of Centrum Team Selection, senior coach John Longmire was looking forward to welcoming back two quality players in the co-captain and the best young player in the game.
“He’s an experienced player, he knows what it’s about, he’s smart and plays a really strong brand of football so it’s great to have him back in the side,” Longmire said of McVeigh.
“(Callum) has given himself every possible chance from the moment he got injured. He’s done absolutely everything right. He’s trained absolutely flat out this week.
“In the end it was really hard to keep him out of the team.”
As reported on Wednesday, Aliir Aliir was already ruled out after the key defender failed to recover from a medial ligament strain suffered in last weekend’s preliminary final win over Geelong.
The 22-year-old made the call himself following a fitness test during Wednesday’s main training session at the SCG.
And, in another hard luck story, fellow defender Harrison Marsh has made way despite being a strong contributor in all three finals matches.
Marsh, Toby Nankervis and Harry Cunningham have been named as emergencies.
Speaking for this year’s final edition of Centrum Team Selection, senior coach John Longmire said choosing the final 22 for the Grand Final always presents considerable challenges.
“It’s really tough on (Aliir), we wanted to give him every possible chance,” Longmire said.
“He’s a really quality person and he’s great for our group and he’s been terrific in the back end of the year as a player.
“Unfortunately his knee didn’t come up. We would have been putting both him and the team at risk.
On Marsh, Longmire added: “He’s played some good footy for us. It’s always a tough decision, whether it be injury or non-selection.
“I’m sure the Bulldogs have had their challenges as well, everyone does this time of year, but it’s really about the 22 playing now and those who’ll give us the best possible chance.”
Of the past five contests between the grand finalists, the Sydney Swans hold sway 3-2 but those losses have come in the last two outings including a narrow win after the siren earlier this season.
Sydney won … matches since then and are coming off back-to-back wins against Adelaide and Geelong, while the Western Bulldogs have more than earned their chances after wins against West Coast in Perth, Hawthorn in Melbourne and GWS in Sydney in consecutive weeks.
The veteran of 286 games, McVeigh’s inclusion injects invaluable experience back into a Sydney Swans side which will take in 13 players with Grand Final experience compared to the Western Bulldogs’ one (Matthew Suckling, if chosen.
Dale Morris and Matthew Boyd are the most finals-hardened Bulldogs, having also played in the Club’s string of preliminary final losses from 2008-2010.
To view the full Sydney Swans’ 2016 Grand Final team, click here.
