Sydney coach John Longmire will spend Saturday night at the MCG studying Collingwood and West Coast, but a more low-key Sunday afternoon fixture could also have a bearing on his AFL preliminary final planning.

Sydney’s reserves will contest the NEAFL Eastern Conference grand final against Queanbeyan at Canberra’s Manuka Oval.

For the likes of Tony Armstrong, an unlucky omission for the Swans’ qualifying final win over Adelaide, and Tommy Walsh, a last-minute scratching from that game, it will be a chance to press their selection claims.

“It’s important to get game time into players who haven’t played for a week,” Swans reserves coach Jared Crouch said on Friday.

“You want to get them fit and through, and playing the style of football that replicates the seniors.

“You can’t replicate the intensity or speed of the game at our level, but structurally you want to make sure the boys are doing it the way John teaches.”

With the exception of suspended defender Heath Grundy returning for injured small forward Ben McGlynn, the Swans aren’t expected to make any changes for their AFL grand-final playoff on Friday night at ANZ Stadium.

However, any sort of mishap could result in Armstrong, Walsh, Matt Spangher, Jesse White or Trent Dennis-Lane being called on to tackle the Magpies or Eagles.

With such a quick turnaround, Crouch will be carefully monitoring their minutes.

“They’ve got a set plan. It is about making sure they get some game time – but the last thing you need is one of those players getting an injury that could have been prevented,” he said.

“It’s about preparing those guys to possibly play in a preliminary final.”

However the preliminary final hopefuls won’t be cosseted, they’ll catch the bus to the nation’s capital as is the norm for the reserves.

“On Saturday they’ll all do a bit of training with the seniors, then they’re on the bus heading down there like we normally do,” 2005 premiership player Crouch said.