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Mills to back up for Swans after Bugg hit

Sydney AFL coach John Longmire says Callum Mills has progressed well since last weekend's ugly behind-play hit from Tomas Bugg and is fit to play this weekend.

Sydney Swans' Callum Mills (centre)
Callum Mills at Sydney Swans training on Thursday. (AAP)

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Source: AAP


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Concussed Sydney defender Callum Mills has been given the all clear to play Saturday's home AFL hit-out with Gold Coast.

The positive news came as coach John Longmire offered reserved support for a red-card system based on Tomas Bugg's ugly behind-play hit that earned the Melbourne midfielder a six-week ban.

Longmire revealed Mills has been progressing well since Bugg's nasty left hook to the chin forced him off the MCG turf in the first term last Friday.

Six days after the Swans' 35-point win, the 20-year-old appeared in good spirits as he trained for the SCG clash that could lift the resurgent side into the top eight.

Afterwards, he got the medical clearance he'd been hoping for and was named in an unchanged line-up.

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"We were confident for the whole week that he'd be right to play," Longmire said on Thursday evening.

"Our doctor always has the final say and he was also confident throughout the week.

"But you're never quite sure until you see how he goes at training.

"He trained really well and pulled up well so he's fine."

Longmire felt Bugg's punishment at the tribunal "seems about right", and weighed in on renewed calls for the AFL to introduce a send-off rule for serious incidents.

High-profile names including West Coast and Carlton great Chris Judd and Essendon captain Dyson Heppell are among the growing chorus in favour of such a move, for which one argument is that the victim is forced out of the game thereby putting one team at a disadvantage.

"The first part of the discussion is that we don't want that to happen in sport," Longmire said.

"We understand things happen in all teams, off-the-ball ones we've got to be mindful of.

"The second part is the performance part. It would be hard to argue, once you've seen something like that happen during a game, that you couldn't argue for a red card.

"There wouldn't be many sound arguments against it. It's very rare, though, that those things happen.

"So in that one incident it would be very hard to argue against, but I also understand the other point, which is that it doesn't happen too often."


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