SWANS defender Nick Smith will miss Saturday's AFL clash with Port Adelaide at AAMI Stadium with an inner ear infection.

The 23-year-old, who was elevated to the club's leadership group this year and is a key member of the backline, hasn't trained all week and won't make the trip to Adelaide.

"He's got a virus that has knocked him around pretty badly," coach John Longmire said before training on Thursday.

"It's a severe inner ear infection, so it's meant he’s got a touch of vertigo, so he's not playing this week.

"Unfortunately he will be missing, he's an important player for us, but hopefully he gets better soon."

New recruit Tony Armstrong, a running defender who is a good ball user, has played for the reserves for the past two weeks after overcoming knee and quad injuries and could come into calculations.

Longmire did say, however, he would prefer Armstrong had at least one more week in the seconds before making his senior Swans debut.

One player who will take his place in the backline is Rhyce Shaw, who played his first match against Fremantle last week since recovering from a back injury.

Shaw, who finished runner-up in the club's best and fairest last year, had a quiet afternoon against Freo, picking up 10 possessions, and hopes to improve this week.

"It was a pretty tough game to come back into last week," he said.

"It was pretty hot early and it took a while to find my feet.

"Hopefully I can improve on last week."

Shaw was also asked about brother Heath's three-year contract extension at Collingwood, which was announced on Wednesday, and whether he had resisted a big offer from Greater Western Sydney.

"I reckon he would've got a pretty good offer at Collingwood," Rhyce said.

"Good luck to him. He loves the footy club and loves it down there and loves all the attention that goes with it.

"He's done really well; three years at Collingwood is a fantastic effort."

James Dampney covers Sydney AFL news for AFL.com.au. Follow him on Twitter: @AFL_JD