Sydney Swans captain Callum Mills is facing the prospect of a serious knee injury after his side produced a remarkable 53-point qualifying-final victory over the Brisbane Lions at the SCG.
Mills was helped from the field midway through the opening quarter after twisting his knee while attempting to corral Will Ashcroft. He was later seen on crutches, with Sydney coach Dean Cox warning that the initial signs were troubling.
“Obviously, not expecting great news on Callum,” Cox said. “We’ll find out the extent of that, which is devastating for him and the footy club.”
The Swans are yet to confirm the precise nature of the injury, but Cox’s comments pointed to fears that Mills may have ruptured his anterior cruciate ligament. Scans are expected to determine the full extent of the damage over the next few days.
“It’s a knee, yeah,” Cox said when asked whether the injury was an ACL rupture. “So we’re not sure exactly the full extent of it. It doesn’t look good.”
Sydney Swans defy expectations in qualifying-final upset
The setback could not prevent Sydney from completing one of the most unexpected wins in its finals history. Missing five players suspended for the remainder of the season after breaching club standards, and without Mills for more than three quarters, the Swans overwhelmed the reigning premiers to win 21.15 (141) to 13.10 (88).
Sydney surged six goals clear in the opening term and maintained control for most of the afternoon, repeatedly answering Brisbane whenever the Lions threatened to reduce the deficit.
Logan McDonald led the scoring with six goals, while Tom Papley added five despite beginning the match under an injury cloud after appearing to hurt his calf during the warm-up. Charlie Curnow also finished with five.
The result leaves Sydney one victory away from a place in the grand final, despite the suspensions of Isaac Heeney, Nick Blakey, Chad Warner, Riley Bice and James Jordon following an alleged incident at a Melbourne hotel. Victoria Police are continuing to investigate the matter.
McDonald said the players had not needed to discuss Mills’ injury after their captain appeared on the stadium’s big screen and gave supporters a thumbs-up from the bench.
“We’ll get around him this week,” McDonald said. “He’s always so selfless. Nothing’s about him. He’s just put the club first straight away. We’ll put our arms around him because he means so much to us as a player.”
Papley said the victory demonstrated that Sydney’s system did not depend on individual stars, even though Mills and the five suspended players were absent.
“It didn’t matter who was out because our system doesn’t require talent. It’s hard work,” he said. “The backbone of it is hard work and desire and pressure and doing your bit for the team.”
Cox praised his players for remaining disciplined after losing their captain so early in the contest.
“To see what happened – it didn’t look great from the outset – and to rally and stay on task and focus on what they had to do was a credit to them,” he said.
Brisbane coach Chris Fagan admitted his team had failed to heed his warnings about an undermanned Sydney side, which had been widely written off before the match.
“You can never underestimate the human spirit and that’s what Sydney displayed plenty of tonight,” Fagan said. “They won because they were tougher, harder, they ran harder, they used the ball well. They were excellent.”
For Sydney, however, the celebrations were tempered by the likelihood that Mills could now be forced to watch the rest of the finals campaign from the sidelines, with the club’s attention turning to both his recovery and the search for a replacement in the next match.
