A nagging injury has got the better of Kieren Jack with the Sydney co-captain to be rested from the winless Swans for at least one AFL game.

Jack had an interrupted pre-season due to a hip injury but has been selected for each of the Swans first five games.

However, his productivity has been well down on previous seasons, leading some pundits to suggest he should be dropped.

Coach John Longmire suggested fitness rather than form was the major issue for the 2012 premiership player.

“Kieren was one of the players who had a good pre-season but got injured just before he was due to play in the JLT series – with a crook hip – and wasn’t able to get any games under his belt,” Longmire told Fox Footy’s On the Couch.

“We’ve been playing him now for five weeks and it’s not getting better, it’s getting worse, so he needs at least a couple of weeks off.

“Hopefully some rest and recovery over the next few weeks will get him back into good form and get him fit and firing for the rest of the season.”

It hasn’t been the happiest start to the season for Jack and Sydney’s other co-captain Jarrad McVeigh, who hasn’t played a senior game this year due to a calf injury.