THE SYDNEY Swans are facing the prospect of being without ruckman Kurt Tippett for an extended period, after he damaged a hamstring tendon in his side's 42-point loss to Greater Western Sydney on Sunday.
Tippett has thrived in his role as the Swans' number one ruckman this season, and was extremely influential in the 10th Sydney derby until he limped from the ground in the second quarter, after appearing to injure himself in a ruck contest.
Swans medical staff treated the star big man on the bench for several minutes, but Tippett failed to come back on after half-time.
Coach John Longmire said post-match that the immediate future didn't look good for his ruckman.
"It's a hamstring behind the knee, so I think it's going to be a significant one," he said.
"We don't know (how bad the injury is); that's as much as we know at the moment.
"We haven't got him scanned yet so we won't know until tomorrow (Monday)."
Five talking points: Greater Western Sydney v Sydney Swans
The Swans also lost forward Gary Rohan in the second half, with his corked glute bleeding into his hamstring, and while young guns Callum Mills (throat) and Isaac Heeney (shoulder) also copped knocks, Longmire refused to blame injuries for his team's performance.
"Kurt (Tippett) was up and about early in the game, but it wasn't that big a difference in the end," he said.
"In the end you've got to be able to cope with that, it's one player.
"We've been able to handle that pretty well so far this year."
The loss of Tippett and Rohan was compounded when athletic forward Sam Reid re-injured his calf in the NEAFL.
Reid was close to playing his first senior game of the year against the Giants after struggling with hamstring and calf problems over the pre-season, but now appears likely to spend more time on the sidelines.
The Swans' depth will be tested over the next month or two, but Longmire isn't overly concerned.
"The same was said about us at the start of the year when we lost 1000 games of experience," Longmire said.
"We handled that pretty well, we believe we've got some players in the reserves that can come in, that have been in good form for quite a while.
"They just need an opportunity."
The Swans' elite midfield lowered its colours on a rare bad night against GWS, with Luke Parker, Kieren Jack, Dan Hannebery and Josh Kennedy well below their best.
Longmire said he hadn't seen his onballers comprehensively beaten that badly in sometime.
"No not really, not for a while," Longmire said.
"For instance, they were beaten in ball up clearances 6-20 and they just didn't have an impact around the ball.
"They (the Giants) were better everywhere, at the contest, away from the contest, so it was a bit here, there and everywhere really."
