Sydney veteran Taylor Adams faces the prospect of enduring yet another hard-luck September story.
Adams was memorably in tears at the MCG after Collingwood’s win in the 2023 AFL grand final.
The midfielder played 23 games for the Magpies last year then was an enforced omission for the preliminary final because of a hamstring injury.
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Adams was unable to prove his fitness in time to return against Brisbane for the grand final then requested a trade to Sydney, linking back up with former teammate Brodie Grundy.
The 30-year-old has played 19 matches in his first year at the Swans, making a delayed start to the year because of a knee injury.
But Adams was axed in week one of the finals as coach John Longmire made four changes, recalling Tom Papley, Justin McInerney, Isaac Heeney and Tom McCartin.
The Swans’ plucky six-point win over GWS in Saturday night’s qualifying final has put them in the box seat to reach this year’s grand final.
And Adams’ selection hopes, for both the preliminary final and the ensuing grand final should the Swans progress, may ultimately hinge on the fitness of teammates.
“His attitude was superb,” Longmire said.
“I had a chat with him earlier in the week and he’s been terrific.
“He’s experienced.
“Who knows what happens in the next few weeks. You got to be on top of you game and all those guys will need to be ready to go because that’s just the nature of the game.”
Longmire admitted Adams’ demotion had not been an easy decision.
“They (selection calls) are all difficult,” he said.
“Taylor hasn’t been playing poorly. It was just the case of those guys coming back in, we needed to make room.
“We just had some really good players coming back in.”
Key defender Lewis Melican appeared to hurt his ribs in a collision with Lachlan Keeffe during the first half of the qualifying final, but played out the game.
The slow-starting Swans battled back from 28 points down to snatch victory at the SCG with two goals in the final three minutes of the contest.
“I’m still in shock. I actually don’t even know what the hell happened out there, because I couldn’t even hear myself think,” Chad Warner said.
“A lot of games we’ve been in that position, and you look around the huddle, and the boys just had a really calm, composed in their face.
“We did a lot of work this year, to be honest, on those moments exactly.”