McInerney to return but free agent Amartey will miss Swans’ prelim final

September 17, 2026 — 12:29pm

Free agent Joel Amartey will watch Sydney’s preliminary final against Fremantle from the stands at the SCG after the Swans elected not to tinker with the forward line that carved up reigning premiers Brisbane a fortnight ago.

Coach Dean Cox has been forced into two changes, with injuries to skipper Callum Mills (ACL) and fellow defender Harry Cunningham (calf), forcing a rethink to their back-half structure.

Justin McInerney has been named for his first appearance since suffering a severe hamstring injury in round 13, while key defender Lewis Melican has earned a recall and will help stand-in captain Dane Rampe, Tom McCartin and Joel Hamling combat Fremantle’s array of tall forward targets.

But there was no room for Amartey, who is weighing up a tempting offer to join Carlton next season.

The Swans kicked their highest score in a final in their 53-point demolition of the Lions as Charlie Curnow, Logan McDonald, Tom Papley and Hayden McLean combined brilliantly for 19 of the team’s 21 goals between them – a set-up that was too irresistible for Cox to consider changing.

McLean’s added versatility in the ruck will also come in handy as he and Brodie Grundy prepare to take down the in-form Luke Jackson, and made him a more appealing option than Amartey.

“That’s just the decision we had to make,” Cox said. “Obviously our forward line functioned really well with the way it was set up ... the players that played in that forward line group, whether they be tall or small, played their role as well as we needed them to. The decision was do we have to turn that around and change it, or do we just go in with what worked, and that’s what we’re going to do.

“We understand Fremantle’s defence and how strong they are in that aspect of the ground. It’s on all our players, certainly in our front half, to try and nullify and keep the score that we need.”

Amartey is reportedly keen to stay with the Swans but has been offered a five-year deal by Carlton, which is worth $1 million more than what Sydney are prepared to pay.

Mills, meanwhile, had surgery on his knee on Wednesday but will play some sort of role, either alongside Cox and his assistants in the coaches’ box on Friday night or from the bench.

“I saw him last night and it’s just now a matter of seeing how that goes first,” Cox said. “One thing Callum’s always done is put the team first and he’ll do that again and hopefully support us in any way possible.”

The Dockers are warm favourites to account for the depleted Swans and advance to what would be their second AFL grand final, having recovered from their qualifying final hiccup against Hawthorn with a confident win over Geelong last week.

Though many have doubts whether the Swans can perform at the same level as they did against the Lions, Cox said he could see no reason why they couldn’t produce the same energetic, emotion-charged performance.

“I just look at the way that they’re prepared and how they’ve trained throughout the last couple of weeks,” he said.

“They look energised, they look excited and ready for the challenge ... I think they can [repeat it]. That’s one thing that we’ve tried to dive heavily, into is the mindset of where we need to get to when the ball’s bounced Friday night. I think the way that we played, the brand that we played, we need to repeat.”