SYDNEY Swan Adam Goodes has said he will decide whether he is fit to play in this weekend’s round-22 clash against the Brisbane Lions after the main training session on Thursday night.
Goodes has been struggling with a groin injury, which has prevented him playing in his usual midfield role, and instead he has occupied a position in the forward line. The dual Brownlow medalist spoke to media as the Swans visited Cirque Du Soleil at Sydney’s Moore Park.
“If I can get through the things at training that I need to do tonight then I’ll play against the Lions,” Goodes said.
“If I can’t get through the things I want to do, I’ll have a rest and get geared up for the first week of finals.”
Goodes insisted he wouldn’t play if he isn’t fit, with the Swans guaranteed to finish eighth on the ladder, and possibly as high as fourth if other results go their way.
“There’s certain things at the main training session that I like to tick off to make sure that I can compete and that I can play to a standard that I can influence the game,” Goodes said.
“If I can’t do those things at the Thursday night session then I’ll put up my hand and say; ‘I wouldn’t mind having the week off’.”
Having only won two of their last eight games, coach Paul Roos declared after watching the Swans’ performance against Collingwood on Saturday night, that his side didn’t look capable of doing much damage in the finals series. That’s a “perception” that Goodes hopes the team can change at the weekend.
“I think that with the form we played with at the weekend, definitely you’d have to agree with that (what Roos said),” Goodes said.
“We really didn’t play with much flair from the backline and our forward line wasn’t operating too well either… we’ve got an opportunity this week, before finals, to change that perception for Roosy.”
Goodes said that not only did the team need to start playing “Swans’ type” football again, the onus was on the team’s leaders to lift their game.
“As a senior group we’re not happy with the form we as leaders are producing at the moment. We’re the group of guys at the footy club that really need to step up… we have to do something about that this weekend.”
