Sam Reid’s hopes of avoiding Grand Final heartbreak are slim but alive, after scans revealed he suffered a minor groin strain in Sydney’s preliminary final win over Collingwood.
The veteran forward-ruck was subbed out of the triumph with immediate concern over whether he would be able to line up in the 2022 decider, after playing in the 2012 flag win.
Reid had scans on Monday and will attempt to train on Tuesday, with the Swans waiting on how he looks and feels before making a call on his availability for Saturday.
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“If you’re Buddy Franklin you take that (injury) in, but I don’t think Sam Reid plays,” Herald Sun reporter Jon Ralph said on Fox Footy’s On the Couch.
Reid has played his way into the best 22 this season, playing an important role as the backup ruckman behind Tom Hickey and providing a third tall option alongside Buddy Franklin and Logan McDonald.
Without him, the Swans would ideally play Peter Ladhams – but the 2021 trade period recruit remains suspended for one more week, after accepting a three-match ban for a VFL collision with Casey’s Taj Woewodin.
That leaves Sydney’s replacement options as Joel Amartey, who has played 13 career games including a stretch of four in a row between Rounds 17 and 20 this year, and Hayden McLean, who has played 30 games across four seasons at Sydney.
Alternatively John Longmire could take the risk on Reid, though AFL 360 host Mark Robinson fears that could be a mistake.
“They’ll say it’s a minor groin strain, but it’s a groin strain,” he said on Fox Footy.
“We don’t know if he’s gonna get up, I don’t know what sort of treatment he’s gonna have. Can you get over a groin strain in seven days?”
His co-host Gerard Whateley responded: “Not usually.”
Robinson continued: “So do you want to go in with a 70 per cent Sam Reid? What if he’s out there and he does it in the first quarter and they’re down to 22 (including the sub)?
“He’s having a really good last third of his career, Sam Reid. John Longmire has to make that decision, and Reid.
“Are you going to survive four quarters of the hustle and the bustle of a Grand Final? It’s a big risk. If he puts his hand up and it goes the first time he goes up and jumps, that’s a bad decision, isn’t it?
“I hope he plays but jeez it’d be a risk.”
