The injury curse strikes again…

The Swans’ immediate fears were realised on Monday when both Lance Franklin and Sam Reid were ruled out for the rest of the season – Franklin continuing treatment for mental health issues while scans confirmed Reid tore his hamstring in last weekend’s loss to Fremantle.

Striking a line through two thirds of his key forwards would have been a difficult task for coach John Longmire to undertake on Monday.

Franklin leads the Swans’ goal-kicking and, while short-term plans were placed on hold, the coaching staff remained hopeful the spearhead would come back at some stage this finals series.

And it was devastating news for Reid who was just hitting his straps as an ideal forward target in the absence of Buddy.

But, as the saying goes, adversity can breed opportunity with some youngsters in the form of Dean Towers and Isaac Heeney called upon to help fill the void.

Both possess a good leap, strong hands and goal sense, while the presence of Adam Goodes will also go a long way to helping the Swans secure a preliminary final berth against West Coast.

Can Jack make it back?

Swans co-captain Kieren Jack remains an outside chance of playing against North Melbourne after vigorously testing out that left knee at training on Tuesday.

Jack strained the medial ligament in his knee during the Swans’ final game of the regular season and looked unlikely to even feature in the grand final let alone week two.

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Alongside Luke Parker, Jack ran a handful of laps around the SCG at about 80 per cent with that knee heavily strapped and under the watchful gaze of the medical staff in his most decisive effort yet to prove his fitness.

Jack will undergo a final fitness test on Thursday.

Parker is still a week away from returning but is reportedly tracking well in his recovery from a broken leg.

The gutsy midfielder did less than Jack but plenty are backing him in to play next weekend pending the result of Saturday night’s clash at ANZ Stadium.

Finals fortress

ANZ Stadium has been a happy hunting ground for the Swans come September, winning eight of the past nine finals matches.

The previous finals encounter was last year’s prelim and featured North Melbourne.

The Swans came away with a 71-point win on that occasion, marking the Kangas’ fourth loss from four finals matches outside Victoria, two of which have come under the ANZ Stadium lights.

Generally speaking, the Swans have been the dominant side in recent times having won nine of the last 10 encounters including the last which came in Round 11 this season - 14.7 (91) to 10.15 (75) at Etihad Stadium.

Boxing on

Previous results count for nothing in the heat of finals.

North Melbourne will be arriving in Sydney confident after bouncing Richmond out in last weekend’s elimination final and with almost a full quota of personnel at Brad Scott’s disposal.

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Last year’s preliminary final loss to the Swans has stuck thick in the memory bank of everyone at Arden St so the visitors will be leaving nothing behind.

Ruckman Todd Goldstein has been doing his best to give his midfielders first use of the football, with the big man ranked first in the competition for hit outs while the Roos collectively rank fourth for centre clearances.

But effective disposals are difficult to come by under immediate and immense pressure, an area in which the Swans have excelled in this season to rank first in the league for tackles and third for contested possessions.

Forward thinking

Despite producing exceptional form as a ruckman, does Kurt Tippett spend more time up forward in the absence of Franklin and Reid?

Tippett’s duties, from the tap outs to the forward half, has played the big man into form with the former Crow averaging two goals and 20 hit outs a game over the past six weeks.

But a fair chunk of firepower has been taken out of the Swans’ forward line so Longmire could toy with the option of leaving Tippett as the number one spearhead while calling on a specialist ruckman to help Mike Pyke combat Goldstein.

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In that case Toby Nankervis and Tom Derickx are options although, courtesy of the Swans’ early exit from the NEAFL finals, neither would have seen any game time for two weeks.

If that’s too much of a risk to take the task of kicking a winning score would be left in the very capable hands of Adam Goodes, Dean Towers, Isaac Heeney and the Swans crumbing midfielders.