Sydney forced to put plans for new headquarters on hold as Sam Naismith resigns himself to one game in 1000 days

The coronavirus crisis has forced Sydney to put plans for a new $70 million headquarters on hold as injury-riddled ruckman Sam Naismith approaches 1000 days having played just one competitive game.

Sam Naismith’s only match in nearly 1000 days was in Round 1 against the Crows. Picture: AFL Photos/Getty Images

AFL club Sydney has put plans for a new $70 million headquarters on hold because of the financial impact of the coronavirus outbreak.

The Swans had planned to share a redeveloped Royal Hall of Industries building at Moore Park – next to the Sydney Cricket Ground – with netball’s NSW Swifts.

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The proposed Sydney Swans headquarters at the Royal Hall of Industries. Picture: Supplied

But the centre of excellence plan will not come to fruition any time soon, with the Swans pulling out of a deal with the NSW Government and Centennial Park and Moore Park Trust.

“The club has exited the lease agreement for now but is committed to reigniting the project post the pandemic,” the Swans said in a statement.

“The Sydney Swans would like to thank the NSW and Federal Governments, the AFL, and everyone who has been involved in the project for their hard work and support.

“We look forward to realising our aspiration to build the Sydney Swans HQ and Community Centre in the future.”

The Moore Park project would have established a new home for the Swans’ AFL and NEAFL sides, as well as a future AFLW team.

It would have also housed the NSW Swifts, Swans Academy, GO Foundation, Clontarf Foundation and an Australian Red Cross Blood Bank donation centre.

The Swifts said in a statement they would continue to work on the project with the Swans once the dust has settled from the coronavirus pandemic.

An artist's impression of the new Sydney Swans headquarters at Moore Park's Royal Hall of Industries. Picture: Supplied

Meanwhile, the Swans’s 2016 Grand Final ruckman Sam Naismith is resigned to the likelihood of playing only one senior game over a frustrating 1000-day period in his injury-plagued, stop-start AFL career.

Highly valued by the Swans, 27-year-old Naismith has played just 29 senior games since being taken in the 2013 rookie draft The 206cm big man didn’t play a senior match in the 2015, 2018 and 2019 campaigns.

But across 2015 and 2016, when he logged all but two of his senior appearances to date, he underlined his value to the side In the 2016 grand-final loss to the Western Bulldogs, he logged a game-high hitout tally and a personal career-best disposal number.

Knee issues, primarily an anterior cruciate ligament injury, meant he went 919 days between his appearance against Geelong in a 2017 semi-final and round one of the 2020 competition without playing a senior game.

Sam Naismith’s only match in nearly 1000 days was in Round 1 against the Crows. Picture: AFL Photos/Getty Images

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“It (919 days) probably put into context how long it was since I last played, I knew it had been a while,” Naismith told AAP.

‘"There’s been some hurdles along the way, but just thinking about it that way it really puts a value to it, it’s a lot of time.”

Naismith will have played just one game in 1000 days if the competition, which is already suspended until May 31, doesn’t resume by the first week of June.

“Hopefully it isn’t that long but it seems like it might be,” Naismith said. The game against Adelaide was just the second time he has played an opening round game.

“There was a bit of social distancing around, but I remember I went up and gave Horse (Sydney) coach John Longmire) a hug and got around a few of the boys, it was really great, it was almost like debuting again,” he said.

Naismith was among the Swans’ better players in the 2016 losing Grand Final effort against the Bulldogs. Picture: Colleen Petch

He recorded a career-high number of kicks and a game high tally of hit-outs and helped Sydney to a 20-5 advantage at centre clearances.

Underlining how long it had been between games was how different the Sydney teams were in those two matches.

Only eight of the players he took the field with in September 2017 against Geelong were part of the team against Adelaide and several of the latter group hadn’t previously played an AFL game alongside Naismith.

Naismith has tried gymnastics, pilates, and a leg extension machine to try and keep injuries at bay.

While the shorter quarters will help him as someone who hasn’t played much recently, Naismith isn’t fussed about the possibility of facing five-day turnarounds once the competition resumes.

Originally published as Sydney forced to put plans for new headquarters on hold as Sam Naismith resigns himself to one game in 1000 days