Sydney Swans star Tom Papley out for six weeks with heel injury, Logan McDonald set to make VFL return
Tom Papley will be out of AFL action for at least six weeks as Sydney face an early-season injury crisis.
At worse, Papley will miss out on eight weeks after cracking his heel at training during the club’s bye weekend.
The livewire forward’s injury comes as Logan McDonald will make his return from ankle surgery via the VFL.
Sign up to The Nightly's newsletters.
Get the first look at the digital newspaper, curated daily stories and breaking headlines delivered to your inbox.
By continuing you agree to our Terms and Privacy Policy.Swans coach Dean Cox said Papley did not seem to suffer the injury during a specific incident at training.
“We had a good hit out Saturday through the bye period and then he (Papley) came in early in the week a little bit sore,” Swans coach Dean Cox said.
“Precaution wise, you look after that, you get it scanned and assessed and then you get the result you don’t want to get.
“We’re gathering all that now and we’ll work the full extent of it, what his full program looks like.”
It is a massive blow for the Swans who are already without star winger Errol Gulden (ankle), captain Callum Mills (foot), Taylor Adams (hamstring), Harry Cunningham (foot) and Lewis Melican (adductor).
Setbacks suffered by Mills and Adams, both of whom hoped to have returned in round five, have only compounded their woes.
Mills will spend a further two to three weeks on the sidelines with a plantar fasciia tear, while Adams is looking at four to six weeks.
Lewis Melican and Harry Cunningham could be one week away from returning, while the club is yet to determine a timeline for Gulden.
The Swans won’t be able to call on McDonald’s services either for their round-four fixture against North Melbourne, with the key forward to play restrictive minutes in the reserve side.
McDonald had off-season surgery on the ankle injury suffered in last year’s preliminary final.
“Yeah, it’s great, and that’s the part - that Logan’s had a really tough offseason,” Cox said.
“The good part is his ability to be able to play this week.
“He’ll be on restrictive minutes, but the part we want from Logan is he’s in our best team.
“He’ll get a chance now to build through some match play over the coming weeks in the VFL program.
“He’s really excited and so are we.”
