After making the tough call to rule captain Callum Mills out of the AFL grand final, Sydney will ramp up their preparation without the distraction of players racing the clock to play.
Mills was delivered the heartwrenching news on Wednesday after coach John Longmire opted not to risk him in Saturday’s decider against Brisbane, which will be just 18 days after he suffered a hamstring strain.
Dane Rampe is poised to step up as skipper after Mills, who missed the preliminary-final win over Port Adelaide through a minor hamstring strain sustained at training on September 10, fell short in his bid to return.
Wednesday’s closed main training session had been D-day for Mills, who was challenged to train fully and put himself in contention.
While Mills fronted media after the session and insisted he had trained at “100 per cent”, the club soon afterwards ruled him out.
“Sydney Swans captain Callum Mills will not play in Saturday’s AFL grand final,” the club said in a statement.
“Mills trained this morning and after taking everything into consideration a joint decision was made by the club’s medical staff and the coaches to rule him out.”
The quick decision allows Sydney to focus firmly on the game, without the distraction of Mills’s fitness as an ongoing narrative in the background.
It is in stark contrast to 2022 when Sam Reid’s bid to play off an adductor injury was a talking point in the lead-up to the decider.
The severely hindered big man ultimately struggled then had to be substituted out soon after halftime in the embarrassing loss to Geelong.
Defender Robbie Fox appears likely to hold his spot as a result of Mills’s absence, with youngster Caiden Cleary and ex-Magpie Taylor among the others jostling for an unlikely call-up.
Rampe looms as the stand-in skipper who would lift the premiership cup aloft, and receive the newly minted Ron Barassi Medal as premiership captain, if Sydney triumph.
Mills is the first captain to miss out on a grand final since GWS co-captain Callan Ward in 2019.
Mills played just seven games in an injury-marred campaign.
The 27-year-old was ruled out of the first half of the season after tearing the rotator cuff in his left shoulder in a Mad Monday mishap last year, before a calf injury delayed his return further.
Earlier on Wednesday, Longmire said Mills had trained at “110 per cent” but added he had not made a decision on whether to recall the skipper.
A couple of hours later, Mills was ruled out.
Mills was previously picked for the 2016 grand-final loss to the Western Bulldogs after overcoming a hamstring injury suffered in the first week of that year’s finals.
Longmire knows better than most how risking an injured player can pay off or backfire.
He lamented playing Reid in the 2022 decider as a “mistake”.
But in 2012, Ted Richards was picked off an ankle injury and successfully quelled Lance Franklin to help the Swans to victory.
There are no concerns over key forward Logan McDonald, who has overcome the rolled ankle suffered against the Power.
“Nah, he was good,” Longmire said.
Former captain Stuart Maxfield will present the premiership cup if Sydney win the grand final, while former Brisbane coach Leigh Matthews would do so if the Lions prevailed.
