Sydney are looking forward to a well earned AFL finals rest while waiting to discover if small forward Ben McGlynn will play any further part in their campaign.
McGlynn hurt his hamstring in Saturday’s 29-point win over Adelaide, which catapulted Sydney into a home preliminary final on Friday week.
The Swans’ joint third highest goalkicker this season with 29, McGlynn, who has missed only one game in 2012, was in tears on the bench after being substituted.
“It’s really disappointing for Benny,” said Sydney defender Nick Smith on Sunday.
“It’s unlucky. I guess all you can do is try and get your body into good nick so you are less chance of hurting yourself.
“Once you do hurt yourself, (you’ve got to be) doing everything you can to get your body right, like Ben is going to do.”
Smith said Sydney were looking forward to their one-week break following a torrid schedule over the past five weeks, which included matches against four of the top six teams.
“We got a real feel for how the finals would be, I think it set us up really well and (we’re) looking forward to the week off,” Smith said.
Smith expects valuable utility Lewis Roberts-Thomson to return to the forward line for the preliminary final after his sterling effort down back against the Crows.
Roberts-Thomson, who has played up forward for most of the year after spending most of his career down back, deputised superbly for suspended key defender Heath Grundy, who will be available for the next game.
“LRT was amazing,” Smith said of Roberts-Thomson.
Smith acknowledged Sydney may have an X-factor player in former Richmond and West Coast forward Mitch Morton.
Morton kicked two goals and tallied five marks and four tackles in his first full appearance for Sydney on Saturday after two substitute cameos.
“In the finals sometimes you need those players who can just kick goals and create something after everyone else’s grunt work,” Smith said.
Morton had to wait until round 21 for his first senior side selection despite being named in the NEAFL Eastern Conference Team of the Year and finishing as the division’s leading goalkicker.
“I think we were just clarifying what his role was in the side,” Smith said.
“In the reserves, he was kicking a lot of goals, but we wanted a bit more from him.”
Another plus for Sydney was the stirring effort of co-captain Adam Goodes, who sparked the Swans with two early goals and finished with three majors and 22 touches.
“He was back to his best, and it’s a really good sign for the team when Goodesy is up and going, he’s a real barometer for us,” Smith said.