Jarrad McVeigh and Zak Jones back to strengthen Sydney Swans for JLT Series clash with Suns
Swans coach John Longmire is adamant that every second counts ahead of the 2019 season, and this weekend he’s bringing back two crucial defenders for their first serious taste of pre-season action.
Sydney
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Jarrad McVeigh and Zak Jones are poised for their first serious taste of pre-season action when the Sydney Swans tackle the Gold Coast Suns in Lismore on Sunday with coach John Longmire adamant that every second counts ahead of the new campaign.
Clubs have just two JLT Series games to finetune preparations ahead of the 2019 season and the Swans are relishing another chance to get minutes into players legs and bounce back from last week’s defeat to the Giants.
“They have reduced the JLT games down to two this year rather than three,” Longmire said. “You have to be mindful of that because you need to prepare for a 120 minute game in round one. The only way to do that is play games.
“All clubs are in the same boat and all teams are playing their best possible players, their best, strongest squads because they need them prepared.
“We’re looking forward to a really good hit out (against the Suns). We’ll play as many senior players as we can get who are available and ready to play. Hopefully we get McVeigh and Jones back into the team. Heath Grundy we hope returns from last week.”
Longmire is hopeful that both Jackson Thurlow and Sam Reid will be fully recovered from a touch of gastro in time for the Suns clash.
Ollie Florent’s sprained foot will see him miss out on this occasion but Longmire will assess all his available options again after training today at Henson Park.
“We got off to a really average start (against the Giants) last week,” Longmire said. “We’re still working into our program of being able to run a good four quarter performance together.”
As for the Suns, they will be without forward Sean Lemmens, who is facing several weeks on the sidelines with an ankle injury.
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