Nick Malceski is expected to be available for next Friday night’s preliminary final after scans revealed no serious damage to the defender’s hamstring.



Malceski, who was subbed out of Saturday’s win over Fremantle at quarter time, underwent scans on Monday morning which confirmed there was no tear or other serious injury to the 30-year-old’s left hamstring.



Swans coach John Longmire said Malceski’s prognosis was the best possible result for both the defender and club.



“It’s the best possible news,” Longmire told sydneyswans.com.au.



“There is no tear in his hamstring muscle, which is a good thing.



“He’s got a tiny bit of fluid on the outside of the muscle, which is similar to what Josh Kennedy had, but not as bad.



“It’s only very small and that’s probably why he had a little bit of soreness in the muscle, but it should be fine for Friday-week.”



Longmire praised the club’s medical staff for pulling Malceski from the match early on, and said he expected the defender to resume regular training next week ahead of the club’s preliminary final clash.



“It’s good that our medical staff made the call when they did because obviously it meant that the damage was not there,” he said.



“It just allows him to prepare this week, hopefully train next week, and then be available for next Friday night.”



Longmire said Malceski was relieved with the news and would turn his full attention to preparing for next Friday night’s must-win final.



“It’s obviously worked out really well to have the weekend off and have him not play this week so he can prepare as best he can to be available for selection next week,” he said.



“I think he’s just relieved not to have his hamstring done.



“He’s feeling good about that, his leg feels great today, and he can at least get on with preparing for next week the best way he knows possible to be available for next Friday night.”



In more positive news for the club, Longmire said there were no other injury concerns from Saturday’s high-pressure encounter, and said he expected to have a full list to choose from next weekend.



“Everyone is in pretty good nick,” he said.



“It was a tough game, there’s no doubt about that, and Fremantle are a really good team and put on enormous pressure.



“The general body soreness is there because it was a fierce finals game, but at this stage everyone looks pretty good.



“It’s good to be able to have most of your list available.



“We’ve still got a couple of weeks to go before our preliminary final on the Friday night, but at this stage, most of the players should be available for that game, so that’s a good spot to be in.”



Despite earning the week off, the Swans will complete a regular week on the track, training on Tuesday and Thursday, before holding an additional session on Saturday morning.



Longmire said he expected his players would use this week to prepare both physically and mentally for the challenges ahead.



“It’s just about making sure we prepare as best we can,” he said.



“We’ll train on Tuesday and make sure we train as best we can, and again Thursday, and again on the weekend, and we’ll make sure our preparations are as best as can be.



“We’ve been in this situation before and we’ll train on Saturday and have some really sharp work this week.



“We’re in the situation where we’ve got the weekend off so we just need to make sure we utilise it physically and mentally and know when to switch off and know when to switch on in your preparations.”





Why not share? label.close Share This Article Share on Facebook

Share on Twitter

Share on WhatsApp

Copy link Link copied to clipboard Share Share this article