‘Shattered’ Dane Rampe lays bare crushing moment with Sydney Swans captain Callum Mills

Sydney Swans veteran Dane Rampe has opened up on a behind-the-scenes moment with his heartbroken captain Callum Mills, after the club ruled Mills out of Saturday’s grand final.

Mills thought that maybe he had done enough during a key training session to get the green light to play in the decider, but his hopes were later crushed when club coaches and medical staff erred on the side of caution.

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Mills had missed the preliminary final with a hamstring issue, and will now have to watch the grand final from the sidelines, too, with popular defender Rampe replacing him as captain for the day.

Asked if it was a “bittersweet” moment, Rampe said it was indeed.

“It’s a good question, mate. I think bittersweet is exactly the word,” Rampe said at the AFL Grand Final Parade.

“First of all ... shattered for a mate. One of my great mates and leaders of our club. We’ve been through a lot together. We’ve had to push that aside.

“Me and him had a cry after the news (that he was not playing) on Wednesday afternoon.

“But as soon as that was done and the way Millsy would want it, (we’re) just moving on and business as usual.”

Rampe said he would not change anything about the way he would approach the game, just because he was taking over the captaincy duties.

“I’ve been doing what I can in a leadership sense all year,” he said.

“I’ll be going out and doing what I need to do.”

It’s been a challenging 2024 for the 27-year-old Mills who was named as a standalone skipper for the first time.

He has only played seven games in an injury-marred campaign, cut down by a Mad Monday mishap last year.

In that off-season mishap, he tore the rotator cuff in his left shoulder which ruled him out for half this year’s season. He then had a calf issue which delayed his return further.

When he eventually re-joined the Swans, the high-flying team started to have a form wobble.

Coach John Longmire said it was really difficult time for his captain.

“It was tough … it’s tough because Callum’s a great person and a great leader of our footy club,” Longmire said.

“But he also understands that decisions need to be made, and jobs need to be done.

“He’s absolutely behind the team ready to go, and that’s just the sort of person he is ... he’s a wonderful person.”

Another player who will be wistfully watching on this Saturday is Sydney midfielder Taylor Adams.

Adams missed Collingwood’s grand-final win over Brisbane last year due to a hamstring injury.

A move to Sydney was meant to spark a fresh chapter for Adams, and he played 19 games during the regular season.

But the 31-year-old’s waning output resulted in him being dropped for the qualifying final against GWS.

Like Mills, Adams was also a notable omission on Sydney’s emergency list.

- With Lucy Mae Beers