SYDNEY Swans coach Paul Roos will resist the temptation to recall Daniel Bradshaw for Sunday’s elimination final against Carlton at ANZ Stadium after the forward pulled up well from his first game in three months.

It was reported on Sunday that Bradshaw had re-injured his troublesome knee in his hit-out with the Swans reserves.

However, Roos said the former Brisbane Lion had pulled up no more sore than expected and he would play another game in the reserves before being considered for a potential semi-final in two weeks.

“There was expectation he was going to play 60 or 65 minutes; there was also the expectation that his knee was going to be a bit sore because he hasn’t played for a while,” Roos said.

“There’s a temptation [to play him] because he’s such a good player but the medical staff need to be confident and he needs to be confident.

“Ideally, I think we need to give him another run to see how he’s going and hopefully we’re still alive next week.”

While Bradshaw must cool his heels for another week, Roos is likely to recall Dan Hannebery, Tadhg Kennelly and Shane Mumford for the clash against the Blues.

Mumford is recovering well from a medial ligament strain suffered in round 21 while Hannebery (back-related hamstring) and Kennelly (knee) were precautionary withdrawals against the Brisbane Lions.

“We’d expect Tadhg, Mummy and Hanners to play. Given it’s a Sunday game, I suspect they’ll all get named in the team but we still have to train Friday,” he said.

“Those three should come in but they still have to get through training… and after Friday’s session we’ll make a decision on who’s in and who’s out.”

Hannebery and Kennelly’s absence gave first-year tall Sam Reid an unexpected debut against the Lions and his 17-possession, eight-mark display gave the Swans' match committee plenty to think about.

“His game was very good. He did everything asked of him; he presented, he gave us a real target up there,” Roos said.

“Obviously going into finals, we know it’s a step up again. The intensity is going to go up and it’s do or die. The pressure’s going to be enormous.

“We know the opposition goes up in quality this week but we’ll certainly discuss him because he played very well.”

The Swans defeated Carlton by 39 points in round 16 at Etihad Stadium but Roos said the Blues’ best was equal to that of any side in the competition. 

“Like us, Carlton are a team that needs all its players playing well, even though they’ve got some genuine superstars. When they’ve got 22 contributors, they can beat teams like Geelong,” he said.

“I think we’re very evenly matched. We beat them last time, they beat us last year convincingly at Etihad… it should be an extremely good game.”

Cheer on the Sydney Swans in the First Elimination Final against Carlton at ANZ Stadium on Sunday, September 5 at 2:40pm.


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