The Swans weren't prepared to risk the long-term fitness of star midfielder Errol Gulden, coach Dean Cox explained.
Sydney on Monday announced Gulden will head in for surgery on the shoulder he dislocated in Saturday night's Round 1 win against Brisbane at the SCG, meaning the 23-year-old will miss approximately fourth months of the season.
Now-retired Brisbane forward Joe Daniher suffered the same injury in Round 7, 2022, before playing on without surgery. The joint popped out most weeks and Daniher was well below his best in the subsequent months.
“It's obviously devastating with the shoulder injury that he's sustained, he'll meet with a surgeon today (Tuesday) and have surgery tomorrow (Wednesday),” Cox said on SEN Breakfast.
“It's a lengthy timeline as well, unfortunately. We'll do everything we can to support him and get him back as fit as he possibly can towards the back end of the year.
“We spoke through with Errol every option that he did have, and the recommendation from our medical team and the surgeon was to get surgery done, to not risk the chance of it continually popping out and look after him for his long-term as well.
“When you've got a player of Errol's calibre, you want to make sure that you can try and do as much as you possibly can to short-term to get the results you want, but also to look after him as much as possible.”
Although the Swans have listed Gulden's mishap as a four-month injury, leading sports medico Dr Peter Larkins told Zero Hanger on Monday that Gulden could return sooner, if things fall his way.
"Three months is usually the best-case scenario," Larkins said.
"It depends how many anchors are used in the surgery."
In 2025, Gulden suffered a fractured ankle in a practice match, which kept him sidelined until Round 15.
