The 32-year-old, who was subbed out of the game at half-time, has been diagnosed with syndesmosis, which affects the ligaments that run between the fibula and tibia in the front of the ankle.
Speaking to sydneyswans.com.au on Monday morning, John Longmire said Shaw’s injury was similar to that of Dan Hannebery, who suffered an ankle injury in the Swans’ clash with Port Adelaide in round 13.
“He’s got an ankle syndesmosis injury, similar to Dan Hannebery’s, but not as bad,” Longmire said.
“We think it’s probably a two-to-three-week injury.”
The coach said the club was relieved with the Shaw prognosis, and said he expected to see the running defender back on field for the Swans in the next month.
“We were probably expecting that Rhyce’s injury would be a bit worse but it looks like it could just be a couple of weeks, and hopefully that’s all it is,” Longmire said.
“We hope he can come back and have a real impact in the team.”
While Shaw is set to miss this weekend’s Sydney Derby, key tall Kurt Tippett is in line to make his return after missing two matches with a knee injury.
Longmire said the 27-year-old had trained well over the weekend and should be in the mix to play when the Swans host GWS at the SCG on Saturday.
“I’m confident that he’ll play,” Longmire said.
“He’s done everything and he ran Friday and ran really well and did agility yesterday (Sunday) and pulled up really well from that.
“At this stage we’ll have him training tomorrow and if he gets through that then he’s a good chance to play.
“We’re looking forward to hopefully getting him out there on the weekend.”
Swans midfielder Ben McGlynn could also make his return this weekend after being sidelined for the last two weeks with a fractured thumb.
The coach said a decision would be made on McGlynn’s availability later in the week.
“We won’t know until Thursday with him, so we’ll give him every chance until Thursday to be able to train,” Longmire said.
“He’s been doing all the running clearly, it’s just whether he can handle the ball.
“His thumb is feeling pretty good at the moment, all the swelling has gone down and he’s got some movement in it, so that’s a good sign.”
The coach also confirmed that debutant Zak Jones would be in the mix for Saturday’s clash with GWS following his impressive performance late in the game against the Tigers on Friday night.
Jones, who was the club’s first-round pick in last year’s National Draft, burst on to the field in the third quarter in place of Shaw, and picked up nine possessions and six tackles.
“Zak’s a chance, particularly now we’ll be without Shawy for a couple of week,” Longmire said.
“We were fortunate to actually have him as our (substitute) considering we lost Shawy because it allowed us to keep our structure forward of the ball.
“We were then able to put Zak Jones in the defensive six and he was able to fit into that back six pretty well.
“He was impressive, he competed well, but he’s still got a lot to learn.
“To play his first game and to get some good flying hours under his belt in a pressure game was a good sign and he’s a chance to play again this week.”
