Injury-plagued Sydney ruckman Sam Naismith was one of three Swans delisted on Tuesday.
After being picked up in the 2012 Rookie Draft, Naismith underwent three ACL repairs which kept him to just two games since 2017 and 30 overall.
While the 205cm ruck spent 2021 and 2022 on the sidelines, he says he was fit to go late last season, but failed to return to the field as Swans took an ultra-cautious approach with his injury recovery.
Naismith says the decision to take all of 2022 off was made midway through the 2021 campaign following a “botched” ACL surgery.
“It was a hard decision,” Naismith said on SEN Dwayne’s World.
“I came back in 2021 and played against Collingwood VFL for half a game there and the week after I played half a game against Casey.
“I was playing some really good footy in my two games back, but I went and had a scan and it turned out with my surgery the ACL was botched, it turned out there was no ACL there at all.
“It was sort of like, I played those games without one, so it was like, ‘Do we keep going on with it?’. Or do we have surgery, do a two-part one, and take 15 months to make sure of it to give myself the best chance of playing footy again?
“That’s the one we opted for, Horse wrapped me in bubble wrap, and he said, ‘Even if you are good next year, we’re not going to roll the dice, it’s going to give you the best chance of playing some good footy’.
“If something was to happen and we came back too early, he wouldn’t be able to live with himself and he knows that if I do get myself right, I’ll be good to go.”
The 30-year-old says he felt ready to go as the 2022 season continued, but had to stick to the plan to give himself the best possibility of staying fit if he returned in 2023.
“It was sort of hard towards the end of the year saying, ‘Mate, I want to help out, I want to help the team go and build towards a Grand Final’,” Naismith said.
“You want to be a part of that as much as you can, but we had those conversations early to mid-2021.”
After being delisted, Naismith says he’s ready to hit the ground running if given another opportunity.
“I’m just trying to navigate the next couple of weeks to see if there’s any potential to find a new home,” Naismith said.
“I’m good to go, so I’m just trying to do as much as I can to press my case.
“I know in myself that if I get an opportunity, I’ll be able to sort of prove it.
“Hopefully something comes up, my manager Ben has been chatting to a few clubs so hopefully something sticks out in the next couple of weeks.”
Naismith and other axed players will be able to find new clubs when the delisted free agency window takes place between November 3 and 9.