Why Swans weren’t willing to take Mills risk with Grand Final selection call

Sydney won’t bring back captain Callum Mills for Saturday’s Grand Final against Brisbane, the club has confirmed.

Mills injured his hamstring at training two weeks ago following the Qualifying Final win over GWS and while he trained at full capacity on Wednesday in a bid to return for the decider, the club has opted against taking the risk.

SEN’s Sam Edmund confirmed that Mills trained fully on Wednesday but that the decision was made quickly after the session given there’s a big difference between an intense training run and a full four-quarter Grand Final effort.

“Unfortunately, Sydney just wasn’t willing to take the risk with him,” Edmund told SEN Afternoons.

“It would have been only 18 days since the injury, so they had to make the harsh call.

“It was true that he trained fully and the best he possibly could, he did all he could, and John Longmire actually said that he trained at 110 per cent, but I think they made the decision very quickly after that session.

“John Longmire, the coaching staff, the medical staff all got together, and they simply decided that it wasn't worth the risk taking a guy in who might have proven that he can train at a high intensity … but you’re taking a risk over 2.5 hours of football.”

Edmund thinks that Sydney’s call also could have been influenced by picking an underdone Sam Reid in the 2022 Grand Final, with the tall forward failing to make an impact after coming back from an adductor issue before being subbed out just after half-time in the 81-point loss.

He also added that Mills was understandably disappointed by the club’s call.

“After the events of a couple of years ago with Sam Reid and a sense of deja vu with that, it just simply wasn't a risk that they were willing to take,” Edmund said.

“I think it's fair to say he is absolutely crushed, as any player would be.

“There's a lot of a lot of emotion in decisions like this and I guess football history is littered with hard calls.

“If they do go on to win a premiership and Callum Mills is forced to watch on, he might not get another chance.

“He would know that today, so it’s absolutely crushing he misses out as the captain.”

The teams for Saturday’s Grand Final will be confirmed at 6:20pm (AEST) on Thursday.