Skipper Callum Mills 'feeling good' but still ruled out of grand final by Swans
Updated . First published at
Sydney has made the agonising call to leave captain Callum Mills out of the AFL grand final.
In heartbreaking news, the club and Mills made the decision together on Wednesday.
It followed the captain completing the club's mid-week training session, which coach John Longmire had said was his final chance to prove his fitness.
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"Mills trained this morning and after taking everything into consideration, a joint decision was made by the club's medical staff and the coaches to rule him out," the Swans said in a statement.
Mills strained his hamstring at training two weeks ago and missed his side's preliminary final win against the Power.
Callum Mills of the Swans celebrated their prelim win, after watching on from the sidelines. Getty
Despite telling reporters at the SCG on Wednesday that he was "feeling good", the call was made just hours later to keep him off the ground as the club dreams of premiership redemption for thier 2022 grand final loss to the Cats.
"(I) trained 100 per cent," Mills said on Wednesday morning.
"Hopefully (I'll play). It's over to 'Horse' (coach John Longmire) now. But got through training and feel good. Just had to train hard and hopefully, that's enough."
Callum Mills warms up in round 22 for Sydney. via Getty Images
The decision will be difficult to swallow for Mills, although the alarm was sounded well before he was ruled out.
Before the Swans' 36-point preliminary final win over Port Adelaide, Matthew Lloyd warned the side against risking him for the biggest game of the year.
"Grand final day is in 17 days. I think they won't want a charade, or a circus in grand final week, going, 'is he in? Is he out?'," Lloyd said on Nine's Footy Classified at the start of September.
"It wouldn't surprise me that if they win the prelim, they'd rule him out straight away."
The last captain to miss out on a grand final was Western Bulldogs skipper Bob Murphy, who missed the club's drought-breaking 2016 premiership.
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Port Adelaide captain Matthew Primus was another to miss out on a grand final, watching from the stands as his side won the 2004 premiership against Brisbane. Primus was struck down in round three and unable to return for a chance at glory.
The hamstring heartbreak comes after Mills' troubled off-season, headlined by a freak injury during last year's Mad Monday drinks that led to shoulder surgery, with the injury occurring when he was wrestling a teammate.
After a difficult time in the headlines due to that incident, Mills may now be forced to watch his teammates hold aloft the premiership cup without him.
