Taylor Adams twist after Swans rocked by brutal news about Callum Mills during AFL finals

Sydney captain Callum Mills will miss next week's AFL preliminary final at the SCG with a hamstring injury, paving the way for Taylor Adams to be recalled. Mills tweaked his hamstring at training on Tuesday in what was the club's first major session since defeating GWS in the qualifying final.

And scans on Wednesday confirmed the academy graduate had sustained a minor strain during their active recovery session. The club confirmed the star will miss next Friday's preliminary final at the SCG, where Sydney will host the winner of the Port Adelaide-Hawthorn semi-final.

The injury also means Mills will be in doubt for the grand final if the Swans manage to get through the preliminary final. The 27-year-old has had a year to forget injury-wise in 2024. The Sydney skipper missed the first 16 games of the season with a mixture of shoulder and calf injuries, before playing six games to close out the home-and-away season. Mills does, however, have some September form when it comes to rapid injury returns, having injured his hamstring in week one of the 2016 finals before being recalled for the grand final that Sydney lost.

Callum Mills injury paves way for Taylor Adams' return?

Adams looms as Mills' obvious replacement in the side that rallied from 28 points down to defeat the Giants and earn a week off. The 30-year-old played 19 games in the home-and-away season before being left out of last Saturday’s qualifying final against GWS.

Adams, who left Collingwood to join the Swans in last year's trade period, was dropped in week one of the finals by coach John Longmire. He also devastatingly missed out in the AFL grand final win for Collingwood last year against the Lions due to a hamstring injury. But the Swans coach has been impressed with his attitude and he is seemingly the favourite to replace Mills. "His attitude was superb," Longmire said on the weekend.

"I had a chat with him earlier in the week and he's been terrific. Who knows what will happen in the next few weeks. You got to be on top of you game and all those guys (who didn't play against GWS) will need to be ready to go because that's just the nature of the game." However, given Mills has been playing more of a defensive role, Robbie Fox may instead be preferred to Adams. Fox has played 16 games this year before being overlooked for the first finals encounter.

Isaak Heeney believes Swans have timed AFL finals run perfectly

The Swans are now in the box seat to return to the grand final for the first time since 2022, as they chase their first flag in more than a decade. They will host either Port Adelaide or Hawthorn, with the winner advancing to the season decider on September 28. And Isaak Heeney, who starred for the Swans in the win over local rivals GWS, believes they are peaking at the right time.

"There's some quality sides (left) and it's fun. I feel like we've timed our run decent," Heeney said. "We left it pretty late in the season but we're doing alright now, which is good."

Heeney was considered a Brownlow Medal contender early in the season but is ineligible for the game's highest individual honour after being suspended for striking. The 28-year-old starred again against GWS with 30 disposals, seven clearances and three crucial goals as the Swans erased a 27-point deficit to win by six. And Heeney puts his recent performances down to Longmire allowing him to play more of a roaming role to get his hands on the ball as much as possible.

"I just pride myself on being just an ultimate competitor," Heeney said. "I'll put my head over it and be as hard as I can, as clean as I can, and punt as hard as I can.

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"Sometimes it comes off and it works, and I'll back myself in a lot. 'Horse' (coach John Longmire) has given me the licence to really just hunt the footy and do what I do and have fun while doing it."

with AAP