The 27-year-old underwent an arthroscopy on his left elbow last week that will rule him out of the Swans' intra-club trial match in two weeks and most of the pre-season tournament next month.

Meanwhile, Brownlow Medal runner-up Luke Parker is close to resuming full training after he required posterior cruciate ligament surgery after playing injured in last year's grand final loss to the Bulldogs.

"We're not going to take any risks with Luke, but it's surgery that was required at the end of last year," Swans head of football Tom Harley said.

"We know he's an absolute pro and he's certainly putting in the fitness yards at the moment to get the conditioning up to reintroduce himself to the group, which will be great because he's a very important player for us."

Lance Franklin is yet to return to contact work after off-season shoulder surgery but has been participating in skills sessions, while Sam Naismith has resumed ruckwork training after also undergoing a shoulder operation.