Sydney may be unable to call upon Peter Ladhams for their entire AFL finals campaign after the ruckman was hit with a minimum three-match suspension.
Ladhams, who has played 11 senior games this season, was charged with rough conduct over a crude hit on Casey's Taj Woewodin in a VFL final at the weekend.
The incident was graded as high impact and high contact, resulting in a four-match ban that can be downgraded if Ladhams makes an early guilty plea.
Ladhams has not played at AFL level since round 17, but his absence would leave the Swans short if No.1 ruckman Tom Hickey became unavailable.
Sam Reid has provided ruck support for Hickey during Sydney's march into a top-four spot.
Callum Sinclair played in the VFL at the weekend and could be called on but has not been seen at AFL level this year.
The veteran, 32, has played just four senior games since 2020.
On Monday, the Swans confirmed Sinclair will retire at season's end, along with Irishman Colin O'Riordan, who has called time due to a persistent hip injury.
In June, Ladhams copped a one-match ban for striking former Port Adelaide teammate Ollie Wines.
Sydney coach John Longmire said at the time Ladhams would not make the same mistake again.
"He's a 24-year-old who's played 40 games, so he'll learn from that," Longmire said after the match.
"He's still learning about his footy and he's still developing as a player and he's been good for us.
"He didn't get that part of the game right, but we all learn from things like this.
"I've no doubt Peter will come through that and learn from it and be a better player because of it."
Sydney take on Melbourne in a qualifying final at the MCG on Friday night, with speedster Tom Papley set to return if he passes concussion protocols as expected.
