Sydney defender Tom McCartin will miss yet another game because of concussion as the Swans take an ultra-conservative approach to his recovery.

McCartin will be sidelined for a third consecutive match when the Swans travel to Melbourne to play the Western Bulldogs on Thursday night.

The key backman was concussed in round eight when hit high by GWS’ Callum Brown in an incident which resulted in a three-game ban for the Giant.

McCartin also missed nine games last season because of concussion and his older brother Paddy retired last year because of ongoing concussion issues.

Swans coach John Longmire says Tom McCartin has been training but lacks the necessary amount of competitive drills to return against the Dogs.

“The Thursday night (game) counts against him a little bit, if it was a weekend game he might have been a better chance” Longmire told reporters on Tuesday.

“He trained today he got through fine.

“The doctors obviously have taken a conservative approach to it.

“He has been pulling up well, he’s been running and training, but as far as the competitive training to go to the next step, he probably hasn’t done enough of it at this point.”

The ladder-leading Swans have a bye after meeting the Bulldogs – another factor in keeping McCartin on the sidelines this week, Longmire said.

The Dogs enter the Marvel Stadium fixture in 11th spot after squaring their win-loss ledger at five-five by upsetting GWS last weekend.

“We’re just getting a sniff of maybe what we can do and what we’re capable of,” Dogs coach Luke Beveridge told reporters on Tuesday.

“But as we keep saying, we wear the inconsistent appraisal of us – it is just who we have been.

“We’re looking to shed that and be a more consistent team in game, as much as results-wise.

“Playing against the top side this week in a Sydney team … what a great challenge for us coming off a couple of good weeks.”

Dogs captain Marcus Bontempelli was subjected to a heavy tag by the Giants and restricted to 18 disposals.

Sydney’s James Jordan has been deployed as a tagger with great success by Longmire this season and looms as a potential match-up for the top Dog.

“If your skipper in Marcus isn’t necessarily shooting the lights out possession-wise, that’s OK,” Beveridge said.

“He doesn’t have to, it’s all about the team and winning the game.”

De Goey sidelined for Dockers duel

Collingwood dynamo Jordan De Goey won’t face Fremantle and could potentially be sidelined for longer after suffering an abdominal strain in the Magpies’ dramatic win over Adelaide.

De Goey, 28, left Tuesday’s training early after failing to get through the session and will go for scans to determine the severity of his injury.

He returned from two weeks out with a groin injury against the Crows and despite feeling the abdominal issue in the third quarter, played on to ultimately kick the winning goal on Saturday.

“Jordy won’t play,” coach Craig McRae said.

“He’s got a fresh injury, he’s got an abdominal strain. He got that in the game and played through it and pulled up quite sore from it. He’s getting scans now to check out what that means.

“We tried to give it some time just to see how it was going and he obviously didn’t get through it (training) and then went off for scans. We’ll find out a bit more how deep it it is.”

De Goey’s loads were scaled back in recent weeks over concerns he could develop the debilitating groin issue osteitis pubis (OP).

He experienced groin soreness after the Adelaide game but McRae dismissed any concerns over the previous injury.

“No, this is a separate injury,” he said.

“Actually the other one has sort of settled down and this has expressed itself as an abdominal injury.

“It’s nothing to do with OP. We actually worked through that process of assessing it wasn’t OP or the start of that.”

McRae indicated the Magpies would “reshuffle” to cover De Goey’s absence in midfield.

Forwards Beau McCreery and Brody Mihocek are on track to return from concussion and a hamstring strain respectively after training normally on Tuesday.

“Likely that Beau and Brody will play. They got through training,” McRae sad.

“That was the plan – you get through, you’re more likely to play. So we’ll probably pick those two.

“It’s (the forward line) been a bit of a revolving door.

“I said after the game (forwards coach) Scott Selwood’s done an incredible job because it just hasn’t looked the same for three or four weeks now and we’re managing to find ways to still score.”

Jamie Elliott, Dan McStay, Jeremy Howe, Reef McInnes and Will Hoskin-Elliott are among the attacking options still sidelined.

McRae indicated with a six-day break and a long trip to and from Perth for Friday’s game that resting players could be on the cards.

Big man Nathan Kreuger is in the mix to play while West Australian Ed Allan could debut.

Youngster Tew Jiath hobbled off at the end of Tuesday’s training.

with AAP