Ted Richards a chance to replace injured Aliir Aliir in Sydney team for Grand Final
SWANS stalwart Ted Richards may yet get a fairytale finish to his AFL career with Aliir Aliir in doubt for Saturday’s Grand Final due to a knee injury.
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SWANS stalwart Ted Richards may yet get a fairytale finish to his AFL career with young gun defender Aliir Aliir in doubt for Saturday’s Grand Final due to a knee injury.
Aliir hyper-extended his right knee in a marking contest at the end of the first quarter of Sydney’s big win over Geelong on Friday night. He had it taped and tried to come back on to the ground but didn’t feel right.
Football manager Tom Harley confirmed Aliir wasn’t rested during the match because of the Swans’ comfortable lead.
“The decision to leave him off wasn’t made because we were ahead,” Harley told The Sunday Telegraph.
“There was a certain movement he wasn’t comfortable doing. So the decision was made not to play him. There was still a lot of the game to go then.”
The condition of Aliir’s knee brings into question the ability of a young player with just 13 games under his belt to play hurt in the biggest game of the year.
“It’s an unknown for everyone,” Harley said. “At this time of the year you make calculated decisions with the health of your players and that will be another one. It’s too early to tell if he’ll play or not. We’ll have all the scans done we need as soon as possible.”
Luke Parker hurt his left knee in the third quarter against the Cats but after examination and taping returned to the field and played out the game.
“I’ll be in (the Grand Final) for sure,” Parker said. “I’d have to be a lot worse than this to pull out this week.”
The Swans’ medical staff will be in for a busy Grand Final week with skipper Jarrad McVeigh (calf) and Callum Mills (hamstring) both pushing for selection after picking up injuries in the qualifying final loss to the Giants two weeks ago.
Richards, who has played more than 200 games for the Swans and announced last month he would retire at the end of this season, said he would be doing everything in his powers to get into the Grand Final team. The defender was dropped after the round 17 loss to Hawthorn and his younger brother Xavier brought in.
“If they gave out Brownlow votes at training this week I would be getting three votes,” Richards told TheSunday Telegraph.
“It’s a difficult situation, Aliir has been playing really good football for us this season. It’s sad to see he couldn’t finish the game. There’s quite a few other players in the same position as me and have a chance to play, so fingers crossed.”
The Richards brothers have played together in only one Swans game, in Xavier’s debut match in 2013.
“A stage like the grand final doesn’t warrant any more excitement but to play with Xavier in my last game would be very special,” Richards said.
Originally published as Ted Richards a chance to replace injured Aliir Aliir in Sydney team for Grand Final
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