Collingwood midfielder Dane Swan has been sidelined for a month due to a foot injury sustained in his team’s loss to Essendon last Sunday.
Swan sustained a plantar fascia injury at the ball of his left foot and will be healing off his feet for 10 days before preparing for a return in round 21 against Brisbane. He has missed just seven matches in eight seasons.
The Collingwood star has been plagued by a series of injuries thus far this season but he told Triple M radio that until now none have been bad enough to put him out of action. “I’ve had little ailments and niggles all year but none of them have been major enough to keep me out of games,” he said.
“It’s something different for me, I haven’t missed a big block like this ever,” he said. “This will give someone else a go who is able bodied who will go in there and do a much better job than me which I’m sure will happen. Hopefully they win enough games and we sneak into the finals and I can make an impact there because I haven’t made one this year.”
Swan’s benching will be another setback for the Magpies after this week’s announcement that defender Nick Maxwell had ended his career earlier than expected, retiring immediately due to an ankle injury.
Meanwhile, Geelong midfielder Allen Christensen has pulled out of the Cats’ line-up against Greater Western Sydney on Saturday, after he missed Thursday’s main training session with flu-like symptoms. He has been replaced by second-year midfielder Brad Hartman and defender Mitch Brown has been upgraded to the Geelong’s emergencies list.
