Swans reap Goodes benefits

THE good news is he's back to take on Geelong tomorrow. The better news is that his teammates have improved during his injury-enforced layoff.

Adam Goodes

THE good news is he's back to take on Geelong tomorrow. The better news is that his Sydney Swans teammates have improved during his injury-enforced layoff.

Adam Goodes would leave a gaping hole in any team, but at the Swans it's meant room for others to impress, coach John Longmire said yesterday.

"We've been able to get through that period with Goodsey out of team and we've seen some development in players on and off the field," Longmire said. "I think that's been a positive. Goodsey hasn't missed too many games over the years and when he's out of the team you're always thinking other players are going to step up."

Goodes trained strongly yesterday, showing no signs of the quadriceps tear that sidelined him for five weeks.

It's the longest stretch the Swans have had without their 305-game veteran, whose most recent lengthy injury layoff was in 1999 when he missed four matches with a broken arm. Longmire has no doubt Goodes will contribute against the all-star Cats.

"You're always a bit more confident when you've got a player like Adam Goodes coming back in after a period off than with other players because the type of player he is first and, second, of all the work he does which is just incredible," Longmire said.

"He's looking pretty well.

"He did his first session on Saturday and then trained again on Monday and got through that really well, pulled up well yesterday, so at this stage we expect him to train today and play him.

"We just expect him to come in and play a role like all the other players in our team.

"There's no expectation for him to come in to the team and dominate from the first bounce.

"We know he's a fit player, he can play forward, midfield, a number of roles for us, we just expect him to come in and contribute."

The Swans have won three of the five games in Goodes' absence - including Essendon in Melbourne last week, and two percentage building 101 and 92-point wins over Melbourne and the Western Bulldogs respectively.

The Swans face a Geelong team who have won their last three games and who will be back to full strength with the likely inclusion of forwards James Podsiadly and Allen Christensen.

"It's a big test for us," Longmire said.

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