Why the Swans’ injury crisis is partly to blame for sharp decline in 2023
Only the West Coast Eagles have had more injuries to their best 22 this season than last year’s grand finalists, Sydney and it may be why the Swans have failed to meet expectations in 2023.
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The Sydney Swans have been the second-most affected team by injuries in the AFL this season.
The numbers put into perspective how difficult it has been for last year’s grand finalists with so many of their best players off the park.
Sydney has lost 122 matches combined from players in their best 22 this year.
Standout names include Paddy McCartin (12 games missed and counting), Tom McCartin (nine games) and Dane Rampe (seven games) that have been out of Sydney’s defence.
Key forward Sam Reid has been out for the entire season through a hamstring injury.
There have also been smaller injuries that have impacted some of their stars. Buddy Franklin has missed six matches for the year, Callum Mills was out for four games through a calf injury and ruckman Tom Hickey missed nine matches.
Only eight players have featured in all 16 games for the Swans: Errol Gulden, Jake Lloyd, Nick Blakey, Oliver Florent, James Rowbottom, Braeden Campbell, Tom Papley and Harry Cunningham. That number will drop to seven with Lloyd to miss the game against the Bulldogs through concussion.
The latest addition to their injury ward is Rising Star nominee Angus Sheldrick who is on the sidelines after suffering an ankle injury against Richmond.
The Swans have never used their injury crisis as an excuse but there’s no doubt their best footy this season has been in recent weeks with the majority of players to choose from.
“It’s just been what it is,” said Rowbottom.
“Obviously you can’t control injuries, but having boys back in the positions that they’re most comfortable has been good.
“At the start of the season, we were a bit all out of whack. I think (Callum) Millsy was playing on Tom Hawkins down back when we played [Geelong] at the start of the season.
“To get a bit of continuity back hopefully puts us in good stead for the rest of the year.”
To cover those injuries, John Longmire has called upon 36 different players this season. That figure is only slightly above the AFL average of 34.9.
The only team that has had more injuries this year than the Swans has been the luckless West Coast Eagles.
The Eagles have lost 189 matches from their best 22 this season. They have only had five players play every game this season.
Nic Naitanui has been on the sidelines all season while Liam Ryan (three), Jeremy McGovern (four), Elliot Yeo (six) and Luke Shuey (seven) have all appeared in fewer than eight games this year.
The average number of games missed by players in the best 22 across the AFL this season is 78 which shows just how hard teams like the Swans and Eagles have been hit.
Last year’s premiers Geelong rounds out the podium for injuries with 95 games missed.
On the other side of the coin, Adelaide is the team that has had the best run this year.
The Crows have only had 30 matches lost to players in their best 22 this season. In total, they have had 17 players appear in at least 15 of their 16 matches in 2023.
Brisbane has had the most players to play every game this season with 12.
The numbers also present damning reading for North Melbourne who continue to languish at the bottom of the AFL ladder. They have had the second-fewest matches missed this season (41) but have not been able to build any continuity on the field.
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Originally published as Why the Swans’ injury crisis is partly to blame for sharp decline in 2023
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