Cameron said Johnson, who spent the last week in Melbourne consulting family, friends and a number of specialists, made the call that traditional surgery was the right option for him.
“I haven’t spoken to him since last week, but he gathered all the information and spoke to a number of surgeons and with all that information considered what was best for him,” Cameron told SwansTV.
“He’s opting for a traditional reconstruction, which will be done later this week and then he will undergo his rehab with the aim to be fully ready for next year.”
Cameron added Johnson’s choice was based not only on the length of time he would spend on the sidelines, but also what his treatment would mean for him later in life.
“There are not only the short-term considerations; there are also longer-term considerations both for the coming years in the medium-term as well as life outside of football and beyond,” he said.
“All of those things need to be weighed up and people have different takes on the information that they receive and it’s entirely appropriate for Alex to take this course of action.”
In other injury news, Lewis Roberts-Thomson will be rested for the remainder of the week in preparation for the Swans’ opening round clash with GWS next Saturday night.
Cameron said Roberts-Thomson, who left the ground in last weekend’s practice match against Port Adelaide with a calf complaint, should be fit to resume team training in the lead up to round one.
“His calf unfortunately got a bit sore again and this is something he’s had a few problems with in the pre-season, so we decided to be cautious and stop him from aggravating it any further,” Cameron said.
“He has pulled up pretty well but we will rest him until the end of this week to give him a full week going into round one.”
Swans rookie Sam Naismith will also remain on the sidelines after fracturing his thumb during a training session last week.
Cameron said the ruckman would miss up to six weeks with the injury.
“Unfortunately he has a bit of a little fracture on his thumb from boxing last week after a bit of a mishap,” he said.
“He had to have surgery on it which means he is six weeks out and is in a cast at the moment.
“He’s going to be running again today, so he will have a chance to work on his fitness while he’s waiting for his hand to heal.”
