KURT Tippett's stop-start career with the Sydney Swans has continued, with the key forward undergoing knee surgery on Tuesday that will rule him out for the next two weeks.
Tippett hurt his left knee during Sunday's victory over Gold Coast and scans have revealed a slight tear to his meniscus, forcing him out of this week's huge showdown with Port Adelaide at the SCG.
It is the opposite knee to the one that troubled him late last year, when tendinitis ruled him out of the preliminary final loss to Fremantle and then kept him sidelined until round eight this season.
Coupled with last year's 11-game suspension for his part in salary cap breaches from his time at Adelaide, Tippett's career with the Swans is yet to really take off.
He had been forming a lethal partnership with Lance Franklin, which will be put on hold for games against Port and Richmond the following week, but coach John Longmire was at least relieved the injury wasn't more serious.
"He's going to be missing the next two weeks," Longmire told reporters ahead of training on Tuesday.
"He's got a slight tear in his meniscus, so he'll have a minor operation today, trim the cartilage up a bit, miss two games and he should be right in three weeks' time.
"He'd been playing well - he was a bit quiet on the weekend, but he'd been playing really well for us and doing a good job.
"But if you look at the other results that could've happened, it's not necessarily a bad result."
The injury means Mike Pyke is a big chance of returning for his first game since round seven, with the match committee to decide whether to have Pyke and fellow ruckman Tom Derickx in the same side.
Fully recovered from a hamstring injury, Pyke made it through 95 minutes of game time in the reserves on Sunday.
The Swans will also have Franklin in the forward line to take on the ladder-leading Power after he escaped the wrath of the Match Review Panel for his high bump on Gold Coast's Clay Cameron.
Longmire clearly wasn't thrilled with Franklin's decision to bump and the fact that he put himself in a position to potentially be suspended.
The Swans coach has been consistent in his view that players should always take another option over laying a bump, although he won't be giving his players a blanket instruction to eliminate the technique.
"I've always been consistent in making sure all of our players, if you've got another option, you take the other option," Longmire said.
"Whether that's picking the ball up or smothering or tackling, if you've got another option, take that option.
"I've spoken to all of our players about it and it's just something you need to be mindful of.
"In general, I'd like to tackle and smother and chase or win the ball in a general situation.
"There's not a black and white thing in football, which makes it very difficult for the adjudicators to get it right all the time. It's a difficult thing to do.
"Every situation is different. If you say, 'Do this all the time', it's preconceived in your mind that you should do that and you start to second guess yourself."
