Swan Districts are in the midst of another frustrating season, sitting second last on the WAFL ladder.
The Swans’ senior list is facing significant injuries, leading to struggles with personnel consistency.
Coach Andrew Pruyn says the situation is “less than ideal and incredibly frustrating” and that he is painfully aware of the impact their results have on their fan base.
“We have passionate members and people who love our club. We’re incredibly grateful, and it’s not something you want to lose; it’s something that sets the WAFL apart from other state league competitions. At the same time, it makes it hard when you’re not able to deliver results”, Pruyn said on WAFL World Wednesday night.
The Swan Districts coach claims the biggest limitation for his side is the lack of stability within the team.
When playing Subiaco on the weekend, in what turned out to be an extremely tight game, going down by just four points, there were six changes to the team from the game against West Coast a couple of weeks earlier, where the Swans again lost a tight contest by seven points.
“That’s been pretty regular for us; we have had big fluctuations in personnel”, Pruyn said.
On the WAFL website, there are 13 Swans players listed with injuries. According to the coach, however, 17 players are currently unavailable due to contact injuries alone.
Soft tissue injuries have also spiked in the last month, says Pruyn, believing it is correlated to going head-to-head with AFL players from Peel Thunder and West Coast.
“We had a real spike in our GPS data when we played Peel and then West Coast. We had a spike in our high-speed numbers, sprint and repeat effort numbers”.
“Playing against AFL players potentially resulted in some soft tissue injuries. It is something we need to look at and be conscious of going forward.”
The Swans are going head-to-head with West Perth on the weekend, in a game that is make or break for Pruyn’s Swans.
If the black and whites win, they still have a slim chance of reaching the finals.
IMAGE: Jack Johnson