SYDNEY Swans ruckman Shane Mumford has been working on a new tackling technique he hopes will help him avoid any more time on the sidelines as he makes his return from suspension this week.

Mumford was suspended for two matches for a controversial sling tackle that concussed Carlton midfielder David Ellard in round 13, the second time in as many years he has been suspended for the tackling style.

The former Geelong ruckman is vital to the Swans' hopes of staying in the top eight and making some noise in September, so he has been refining his tackling approach during his enforced layoff.

"It's reasonably clear now that if you take someone to ground in a tackle you are risking suspension," Mumford said ahead of training on Thursday.

"The best idea is to hold them up and don't take them to ground and take that risk.

"I've been working on it for the last couple of weeks now just to pin blokes' arms so they can't get rid of the ball while still standing up.

"You're going to risk them getting the ball out a few times, but I would rather them get the ball clear than risk another couple of weeks' due to suspension."

Swans coach John Longmire knows how important Mumford is to the side and has been working with him one-on-one at training to help him tweak his tackling approach.

"One of the reasons we recruited Shane is because he's a fantastic competitor, he's super at contested ball, he's another midfielder for us and that's something that we've missed," Longmire said.

"But in those situations, we want him to lay effective tackles, but the game is telling him he needs to change his style.

"That's what he's trying to do, when he tackles someone he has to stay fairly upright because he knows now that if he brings them to ground and they get injured, they're in trouble."

Former West Coast utility Matt Spangher will make his debut for the Swans when they take on Gold Coast at Metricon Stadium on Saturday night.

Spangher, who played 26 games for the Eagles before being delisted last year, is expected to help ease the load on Sam Reid in the forward line, while Longmire said he could also spend time in defence against the Suns.

Mumford has been impressed by young Gold Coast ruckman Zac Smith and expects a tough time against him on Saturday, but he is itching to get back into the action.

"Just sitting on the sidelines watching has been pretty tough so I've got myself built up for a big game this week," he said.

"To be setting ourselves up for the finals we've got to come in really hard and have a crack this week."

The views in this article are those of the author and not necessarily of the AFL or the clubs