SYDNEY Swans coach John Longmire has ended speculation over the replacement for injured ruckman Kurt Tippett, confirming Toby Nankervis will play against Adelaide in Saturday's semi-final at the SCG.
Tippett suffered a hairline fracture to his jaw in last week's qualifying final loss to Greater Western Sydney at ANZ Stadium and, barring a mishap at the Swans' last training session of the week on Thursday, Nankervis will partner fellow youngster Sam Naismith against experienced Crow Sam Jacobs.
Former West Coast big man Callum Sinclair trained solidly on Tuesday for the first time since having knee surgery after the Swans' round 16 win over Carlton.
Longmire said that while the 26-year-old would miss out this week, Sinclair was a chance to play in the preliminary final should his team beat the Crows.
Nankervis has played just 11 senior games and will be one of the Swans' least experienced players to take the field against Adelaide, and Longmire expects youngsters like Tom Papley, George Hewett and Naismith, to learn from their first final.
"Some of our younger boys were ok, and some of them didn't play as well as they could have (against GWS)," the coach said.
"But that probably goes for the whole team.
"(We’re) better for the run or better for the experience, is probably a good way to put it, but we get back here to the SCG, and we've played some pretty big games of football here this year.
"We expect that to happen again this week."
Defender Jeremy Laidler looks likely to be another change for the Swans this week, replacing NAB AFL Rising Star winner Callum Mills, who strained his hamstring in the first half of the Giants clash.
Fringe players Harry Cunningham and Dean Towers remain long shots after failing to make a compelling case for selection during the Swans' NEAFL Grand Final loss to GWS last Sunday.
Star midfielder Josh Kennedy is a certain starter against the Crows, after training without any issues from the head knock he received from Steve Johnson, who received a one-week suspension for rough conduct.
Longmire expects the minor premiers to respond to their poor second half against the Giants, with the Swans being out-tackled 96-64 last week.
"We were disappointed with our lack of effective tackles, and it was probably our worst result for the year in terms of missed tackles," he said.
"Normally it's a real strength of ours, but we're confident we can get more pressure around the ball than we did last week.
"If we get enormous and effective pressure around the ball, generally we work better going both ways.
"We know that if Adelaide gets the ball in quickly with the talent they've got in their front half, that they can cause any team headaches.
"That’s why the midfield pressure battle is always a critical one.
"When you've got an opposition forward line stacked with so many talented players, you need to make sure those entries that they do get, have a bit more pressure around them to what we applied last week."
Longmire also scoffed at criticism of his side's reliance on big names like Kennedy, Luke Parker, Lance Franklin and Dan Hannebery.
"I think all teams rely on their good players, there's no secrets there," he said.
"If good players play well, it helps their team win games of football.
"If (Eddie) Betts plays well, and Taylor Walker plays well, and Rory Sloane plays well, Adelaide are going to be really hard to beat.
"We've got a strong leadership group and you back their performances over a long period of time.
"They've certainly got the track record to be able to deliver in pressure games."
