Leg up for the Swans
Hurt Reid likely to play
SYDNEY has given the strongest indication yet that injured forward Sam Reid will play in Saturday’s grand final.
The 30-year-old has been “pretty confident all week” but was told he had to get through training at the SCG on Thursday to be considered.
The closed session was Reid’s first attempt at running since he was substituted out of the preliminary final with a right adductor scare.
Scans on Monday confirmed low-level damage, which has 21-year-olds Hayden Mclean and Joel Amartey on standby.
“(Reid’s) progressed really well throughout the week and we’ll see how he goes today at training,” Swans assistant coach Jarrad Mcveigh said before training.
“We’ve been confident all week. He was a bit sore throughout the game so we didn’t want to take any risks and we’ll just have to wait to today to see how he goes.
“He’ll do a bit of work and a bit of running, and then we’ll see how he pulls up.
“He’s such a professional and he’s progressed really well. He’s done his rehab protocols and his recovery work.
“He’s played in a few grand finals before so he understands the pressure that comes with it all. Obviously you want to be flying 100 per cent, but he’s recovered really well.
“So we’re really happy with the way he’s progressed.”
Reid is chasing his second premiership after lining up in the 2012 flag as a 20-year-old.
Mcveigh said Mclean and Amartey would be ready to rock if required.
They were among five back-up players who sweated through about 8.5km in a minitraining session on the SCG late on Saturday night after the club’s one-point win against Collingwood.
Wingman Justin Mcinerney, who rolled his ankle against the Magpies, was set to train fully on Thursday and appears certain to line up.
Mcveigh said the Swans got “a bit of game state stuff wrong” in the preliminary final fade out.
“We ball watched a little bit too much, with guys floating in behind,” he said.
“So just little things like that we’ve tried to clean up. But we’ve always practised since pre-season our game state and it may happen this week.
“When it’s tight you’ve got to be calm. We back our leaders to get the right calls made.”
The Cats fielded the oldest outfit in VFL-AFL history last week. They had 17 players with grand final experience in the 23-man team, who have played a combined 29 grand finals.
The Cats are on a 15-game winning run while Sydney has peeled off nine consecutive victories.
Sydney’s pressure game has gone through the roof in that run. It is ranked No.1 for pressure, No.2 for forward-half pressure, No.2 for tackles (75.4) and No.1 for forward 50 tackles (15.1).