Every club’s resilience will be tested at some stage throughout the AFL season, according to coach John Longmire.
For the Sydney Swans, that time is now.
Two more senior players were added to the injury list in the early hours of Monday morning. Dane Rampe, who tripped and broke his arm during a routine training run around Centennial Parklands, will miss at least five weeks while it's likely Dan Robinson will face an eight-week lay-off after breaking his collarbone in the second quarter of Saturday’s loss to Port Adelaide.
Rampe’s mishap and Robinson’s latest setback will ask some serious questions of the Swans’ Match Committee in the lead up to Friday night’s big clash against the Western Bulldogs.
Firstly, how well the Swans’ depth can cover the losses and, secondly, whether the latest outs will compound what was already a considerable challenge for the football department.
“Your resilience level gets tested over the course of a season, every club gets tested,” Longmire said at Monday’s press conference.
“Our test is coming at the start of the year, both in our form on the weekend but also a couple of things that are also very difficult to control.
“You just have to make sure you bounce back and ride those levels of tests as good as you can.”
Less than an hour before Rampe’s freak accident the star defender, who had only missed one game since his 2013 debut before this week, was dissecting the defeat in his coach’s office, obviously disappointed but determined and more importantly away from harm.
It just goes to show how, as one journalist labelled, “the football gods” can strike at the most unlikely of times.
“I couldn't believe it to be honest,” Longmire added. “He tried to jump the chain and mistimed his jump and fell on the concrete 25 metres from the front door.”
The Sydney Swans’ injury list is now nine players long. Of those, five featured in last year’s Grand Final side.
Longmire will need to find a resolution ahead of Friday’s clash, whether it’s in the form of hurrying Aliir Aliir back sooner than desired to fill the void or blood another debutant (or debutants), to combat the reigning premiers and get the first win on the board.
As has been the case for most of his 150-game coaching career, Longmire seems up for the challenge.
He added: “(It) is a fantastic opportunity to be able to test our resilience and make sure we come back with really strong form.”