John Longmire's grand final curse continues with injured Logan McDonald subbed off in loss
It's grand final heartbreak again for the Sydney Swans, who went down by a whopping 60 points to Brisbane on the last Saturday in September.
And there's one call coach John Longmire made that may haunt him for years to come.
An underdone Logan McDonald was subbed off early in the third term of the Swans' fourth grand final loss from five outings under Longmire.
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And exactly why he needed to be taken out of the match was no surprise to anyone.
McDonald suffered a medial ankle sprain during the Swans preliminary final win over Port Adelaide last week.
Logan McDonald was subbed off during the Swans prelim. AFL Photos via Getty Images
He was put on ice quickly after the injury but cleared of any serious damage.
However, it was one forgotten act that may keep Longmire awake at night.
During the Swans final training run on Friday at the MCG, McDonald walked through each session and did not complete any serious work.
And when he landed on the MCG, he looked proppy from the first minute.
John Longmire post grand final loss. Getty
But Longmire stood by his decision to select McDonald.
"He obviously wasn't moving that well. We made a call at half-time," he said.
"He did everything that was required to do to try and have it 100 per cent, pulled up fine."
McDonald had six touches and didn't kick a goal in the grand final loss.
But Longmire isn't a stranger to making the bold call when it comes to injured players and grand finals.
Just two years ago, he controversially picked Sam Reid to face Geelong, despite being underdone.
Reid was subbed off in the first half, with the Cats going on to pull the Swans apart by 81 points.
And, back in the 2016 grand final, the Swans took a double risk and played an underdone Callum Mills (hamstring) and Jarrad McVeigh (calf).
Chad Warner is comforted by Errol Gulden after the Swans suffered another disappointing grand final loss. Seven
They went down to the Bulldogs by 22 points.
Now, the McDonald saga will go down as another mighty mistake, even though it probably wouldn't have changed the scoreline.
While Sydney didn't play injured skipper Mills, despite him getting through unscathed after overcoming a hamstring complaint, it was McDonald who flew under the radar.
And now, the Swans will have to live with the question again.
Did they make the wrong call playing an underdone Logan McDonald?
