ADAM GOODES is free to play this week, but fellow Sydney co-captain Jarrad McVeigh could be missing again due to fears over the health of his newborn baby.
McVeigh will train this week but the Swans are unsure whether he will travel to Melbourne for Sunday afternoon's clash with Richmond at the MCG. McVeigh was a late withdrawal from last Saturday's match after staying in Sydney with his wife Clementine and daughter Luella, who was born over a week ago.
''I'm not going to pre-empt anything with Jarrad; we'll just see how it goes day by day,'' Sydney coach John Longmire said. ''We're just hoping that Luella gets better. That's our main focus as a footy club … to hope that happens for him.''
Goodes has been given the green light to tackle the Tigers after the match review panel cleared him of any wrongdoing in a clash with Essendon's Angus Monfries.
Goodes made front-on contact with Monfries as the Bomber attempted to regather possession after a fumble, but no action was taken after a report from Essendon stated no high contact was made and the player was not injured.
The finding is a relief for the Swans, who can ill afford to enter such an important clash minus their two on-field leaders and prime midfield movers.
After a quiet spell during the middle of the season, Goodes was widely viewed as having turned in two best-on-ground performances in Sydney's last two matches.
It prompted Longmire to declare Goodes was back to the form that led to him snaring a third All-Australian jumper in 2009.
''The last couple of weeks he's certainly playing as good as he has this year, and probably for a couple of years,'' Longmire said.
Goodes, who turns 32 in January, is one of the fastest players at the club and clocked 2.89 seconds over 20 metres last pre-season, placing him ahead of young whippets such as Gary Rohan and Lewis Jetta.
''You look at him at 31 years of age and 100 kilos, and I thought on the weekend you saw that real electrifying speed and his ability to do it again and again, the repeat efforts. He's a unique athlete,'' Longmire said. ''The ability to do that and lead from the front, I thought it was a real special trait. I just hope he can do it for another few years. He certainly lights us up.''
The Swans have a rare trip to the MCG, where they have not played since their draw against Melbourne in the opening round of the season.
At greater stake, however, is their spot in the eight, which will be under pressure if they lose to Richmond, who went down by 57 points to West Coast on Sunday. The Swans narrowly beat the Tigers in round 12 but lost by four points when the sides last clashed at the MCG.
''Richmond, on the weekend … played some really good periods of footy, and up until three-quarter-time there was a bit over 20 points in it,'' Longmire said.
''Richmond at their best will be what we're planning for. There's no point coming out on the weekend and having a crack for four quarters, getting beaten by a point and turning up this week and not giving the same sort of intensity … that's what we've got to do this week.''
The Swans had a host of players returning from injury in the seconds last week, including Matt Spangher and Rohan, while Jarred Moore, Paul Bevan and Jesse White were among the best in the 100-point thumping of Belconnen.
Email a friend