Speedster Lewis Jetta believes the Swans’ depth runs deep enough to cover the loss of key forwards Lance Franklin and Sam Reid for Saturday’s semi-final against North Melbourne.
Both Franklin and Reid won’t play a part this finals series after Swans coach John Longmire ruled the duo out earlier in the week, confirming Franklin was continuing his treatment for a mental health condition while scans revealed Reid had torn his hamstring.
The news leaves a significant hole in the Swans’ forward half with Kurt Tippett and Adam Goodes the only notable talls available.
With Tippett showing exceptional form in the ruck and Goodes turning back the clock through the midfield, many are saying the Swans’ coaching staff will have a tough time remedying its forward woes ahead of Saturday night’s clash at ANZ Stadium.
But, speaking at Tuesday’s recovery session in Maroubra, an optimistic Jetta didn’t think so believing the younger types likes Dean Towers and Isaac Heeney were more than capable of stepping up to the plate.
“We’ve got a lot of players who might not be very tall but can jump and can take a good overhead mark,” Jetta said.
“We’ve got Towers who played a big role last weekend when Reidy went down while we’ve also got Heeney who can take a big mark as well.
“And plus we’ve still got the great man in A.Goodes still running around.”
Goodes’ goal sense and 27-game finals experience will be “major”, according to Jetta, in helping to carry the Swans towards a potential preliminary final berth and beyond.
Jetta, who has played in more matches than over 50 percent of the list, is also in that group who will be looked upon to lead having played in five finals series (12 finals matches) and experienced both a winning and losing grand final.
“There’s room to relax but it’s also important to play on the edge because it’s a big final and you can’t leave anything for granted,” Jetta said.
“We need to give everything we can because this opportunity might not come around again. Every game is critical, we need to win and I have full faith in the playing group that we can.”