Sydney Swans defender Ted Richards will use Saturday’s NEAFL practice match to prove his fitness for the season opener against Collingwood.
As revealed by coach John Longmire on Fox Footy’s AFL Tonight, Richards is set to line up for the NEAFL Swans in this weekend’s practice game against Sydney Uni at Blacktown International Sportspark to stake his claim for round one selection.
The 33-year-old did not feature in the Swans’ NAB Challenge campaign after spending most of the pre-season recovering from a calf injury.
The coaches aim for Richards to play at least a half of footy, then it would be a matter of weighing up how well the backman recovers ahead of the blockbuster against the Magpies.
NEAFL: See the full practice match schedule
“We’d like him to be available for the reserves game this week before the season starts, that’s the plan over the next couple of weeks,” Longmire said.
“He has had a few soft tissue injuries over the journey but we’re hoping he can play for at least half of that game.
“If he’s available and gets through, we’d certainly look at him for round one.”
If unavailable, Longmire has some alternatives in mind to combat Collingwood’s forward line including playing Dane Rampe as a key position type or handing new recruit Michael Talia his first game for the Club.
The question of how the Swans will structure up for the round one clash at the SCG also extends to the ruck-forward combination of Callum Sinclair and Kurt Tippett.
BLOCKBUSTER: Join us at the SCG for our round one clash against Collingwood
The pair played as ruck-forwards in all three of the Swans’ NAB Challenge games with good effect. Whether that’s the way forward will be determined by “who we play and how they’re going” throughout the course of the season, according to Longmire.
“We go in with no preconceived ideas as far as percentage of time, that’ll depend on their workload and who the opposition is,” he said.
“What we do know is that they can play in the ruck and both can play forward, even at the same time.”
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