McGlynn in frame for Swans return

Sydney coach John Longmire says injured small forward Ben McGlynn is no guarantee of returning in the AFL grand final even if he’s passed fit on Thursday.

McGlynn injured his hamstring in week one of the finals against Adelaide and has since raced the clock to be fit in time for Saturday’s decider.

Longmire said on Monday that McGlynn had made good progress and that Thursday’s SCG training session would be his final chance to prove to the club’s medical staff that he was right.

“He ran last week. He stepped it up again yesterday, he’ll step it up again tomorrow,” Longmire said.

“The plan is for him to train fully on Thursday if everything goes well.

“Whether it’s round 10 or playing in a grand final, we’ve got a process to follow. That’s what he needs to follow, and we’ll wait and see how he goes through the week.”

Longmire was noncommittal when asked if a fit-again McGlynn would return against his old club, dislodging an unlucky Swan from the team that defeated Collingwood in Friday night’s preliminary final.

“We’ll wait and see how the week progresses,” Longmire said.

“We’ve got to make sure he’s absolutely right, and we’ll take the grand final equation out of it to some degree.

“If he ticks the right boxes, it gives him a chance to play. We’ve got to be very clinical about it.”

Longmire was more upbeat about the fitness of key defender Ted Richards, who played out the preliminary final after being taken to the rooms in the first quarter with an ankle injury.

“Teddy’s OK. He won’t do a lot tomorrow, but he should be fine to play.”

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