Dual imports from the North to the Harbour City are in line to earn selection for their club’s upcoming AFL finals clashes.
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One-time TSL big men, North Launceston’s Toby Nankervis and Launceston’s Tim Mohr, both have valid – albeit different – reasons for last-ditch season recalls.
Nankervis was withdrawn from Sydney’s NEAFL grand final – ironically against the GWS Giants – as a precaution leading into his side’s AFL qualifying final on Saturday.
The intentional move could pay dividends to freshen up the 199cm ruckman for a probable berth in this Saturday night’s cutthroat semi-final against Adelaide.
Swans ruck-forward Kurt Tippett suffered a hairline fracture to the jaw in the loss to the Giants.
A specialist told Tippett on Monday he will at least avoid surgery, but his finals campaign remains in jeopardy.
“He won’t play this week and we’ll assess what his return to play timeline is after that,” club general manager of football, Tom Harley, told sydneyswans.com.au.
Nankervis, 22, has played six games this year, including five when the George Town junior replaced Tippett in June over a torn hamstring tendon amid an 11-game career since 2014.
The 198cm Mohr returned this year for the Giants following a horrific series of injuries over the past two seasons.
One of the club’s first signatures in 2012 came back from a knee reconstruction in 2015 before re-injuring the same left knee five games in.
But the luckless 27-year-old defender has played two AFL games in 2016 amid a solid NEAFL season that included a four-point grand final win against the Swans in a return to full fitness.
Mohr’s selection as the next-in-line backman for next week’s preliminary final would cap a fairytale return.
