AFL grand final 2024: Sydney Swans adamant WA forward Logan McDonald despite very light training session

Sydney have taken no risks with Logan McDonald’s ankle injury with the key forward watching on as his teammates completed their Captain’s Run at the MCG on grand final eve. But the Swans have declared the West Australian will definitely play in the premiership decider against Brisbane on Saturday. The minor premiers spent less than 30 minutes acquainting themselves with the ground and running out some nerves but McDonald didn’t even bother wearing his footy boots. He walked onto the field in runners, completed some light stretching, and then chatted with staff for the majority of the session before doing some touch work with assistant coach Amon Buchanan. McDonald then had a handful of snaps at goal before the session ended. The forward injured his ankle during the preliminary final and was in doubt earlier in the week but has been named to play. McDonald was dropped for the 2022 grand final after quiet games in both the qualifying and preliminary finals. Teammate Will Hayward said he’d always thought McDonald would be declared fit to play. “I was always confident and he was really confident,” he said. “He just had to get through training which he did. He was fine. He’s 100 per cent ready to go. Probably for him there was a bit of a nervous wait but I think when he woke up a few days after the game and saw it was looking pretty good, he was good. “He’s super important. He’s a big connector for us. He’s a hard runner and a hard match-up. We’re super pumped that he got up.” A large and passionate Swans crowd seized upon the chance to cheer on their team at the open training session after the grand final parade. The players used the short time on the field to go through their own preparations for the game with some taking shots for goal, others choosing to do running and some doing kick to kick.