Sydney forward Tommy Walsh will miss the rest of the AFL season after suffering a serious hamstring injury in Saturday’s win over Essendon.
Coach John Longmire on Monday also revealed veteran defender Rhyce Shaw is still four or five weeks away from making a comeback, after suffering pelvic problems in addition to an abdominal strain which has kept him out for two months.
Walsh, the Swans’ only casualty in their 44-point victory at the SCG, was substituted off with a leg injury early in the second quarter.
Longmire said on Monday scans revealed the Irishman had torn his hamstring tendon off the bone and would require an operation this week.
“That’s it for the year for him,” Longmire told reporters.
“It’s a bad injury. It looked bad at the time and unfortunately the scans have revealed that it’s as bad as what we thought.”
While Walsh is yet to establish himself in the Swans’ senior team, Longmire said it was disappointing that he won’t get the chance to prove himself this season.
The Swans’ defensive depth has been thoroughly tested over the past fortnight, with Shaw, Marty Mattner (hip), Lewis Roberts-Thomson (knee) and Alex Johnson (knee) all out.
But Longmire has been impressed with the way his back six have held the team’s defence together.
“We’ve introduced Dane Rampe and we’ve changed the team a little bit to make up for some personnel missing in the back six, but I think that’s actually helped us at times,” he said.
One of the changes that Longmire says he’s open to pursue on Saturday against the Crows is pushing Adam Goodes forward – a move which saw him bag four goals in the absence of Walsh at the weekend.
“We know that Goodesy’s a pretty effective midfielder, but he’s also an effective key forward as well – even though it’s something I’ve probably been reluctant to do,” he said.
“Certainly with Tommy out and no Sam Reid, and no (Kurt) Tippett, something to consider is Goodesy forward a bit more.”