Nick Malceski in as North rule out three
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Sydney coach John Longmire has confirmed hamstrung defender Nick Malceski will be right for Friday night’s AFL preliminary final against North Melbourne.
Malceski tweaked his hamstring in week one of the finals.
But with the Swans having earned a week off courtesy of that qualifying final win over Fremantle, the 30-year-old has since recovered sufficiently.
Longmire said on Thursday morning that Malceski had performed well this week, proving he was ready for the ANZ Stadium grand final playoff.
“He’s done everything that is required this week. He ran really hard on Monday, did all the training yesterday,” Longmire said.
“He pulled up well today, so at this stage we expect to name him.
“I can only go on what’s in front of me right now. He feels good, he did all the running yesterday. We expect him to play.”
Malceski kicked two wondrous goals in the Swans’ epic 2012 grand final win and his rebounding run has been a crucial part of the Swans’ recent success.
Malceski, who has played every game this season, is expected to be offered some lucrative deals as an unrestricted free agent.
North Melbourne, meanwhile, ruled out Leigh Adams, Jamie Macmillan and Lachie Hansen with the injured trio ruled out.
Kangaroos coach Brad Scott said on Thursday they weren’t considered at selection.
Midfielder Adams had battled lingering effects from concussion.
“He went and saw a specialist whose advice was to err on the side of caution and give him one more week,” Scott said.
“The good thing is that he’s able to train fully and get a lot of work under his belt and should be available next week if required.”
Key-position player Hansen hasn’t recovered fully from a hip injury while defender Macmillan has a leg problem.
Scott said that even if Macmillan wasn’t injured he may have still opted for a taller defensive combination against a towering Sydney attack including Coleman medallist Lance Franklin, Kurt Tippett, Sam Reid and Adam Goodes.
“I think we have to go look at going taller,” he said.
“Clearly with the weaponry they’ve got in their forward half and their talls it’s important we’ve got all options available and fortunately we’ve got enough players to cover that.”
Joel Tippett, the younger brother of Sydney key forward Kurt Tippett, has been included in a 25-man squad although Scott was yet to decide on his final line-up.
“He’s (Joel Tippett) in the squad,” said Scott.
“We want to have a look at our defence match-ups and we’ll have a look at Sydney’s selection and the weather – those things will come into play.”