In a double blow for the Swifts, sharpshooter Sophie Garbin has been ruled out of Saturday's crunch clash with the Melbourne Vixens due to a minor foot complaint. The club is expected to announce two temporary replacement players on Friday, to fill the breaches left by O'Brien and Garbin.

O'Brien will have surgery on Friday and could miss a full year of Super Netball after scans revealed a complete rupture of the tendon.

"She went down and pretty much straight away you knew something bad had happened to her, it's a terrible blow and the girls have been very sympathetic and gorgeous with her," Swifts coach Briony Akle said.

"We were only saying a week ago how great the girls had been injury free so I think I jinxed myself. It's really tough, because you've got to rally the other nine girls around, and say we've still got a game to play this weekend but we still need to support her just as much.

"That's probably been the biggest challenge, just staying focused on the fact that we've got a game this weekend knowing what Claire's going through. It'll be a test this weekend so hopefully they can pull it together and play for her.

"She's been someone that I know that I can bring on and she'll do a great job and that's not easy to replace. We're definitely going to miss her in the next six weeks, hopefully she has a good recovery."

Like the majority of her Super Netball peers, O'Brien is off contract at the end of this season.

The Swifts have begun the process of drawing up player contracts for next season, but should O'Brien's recovery period eat into next season she may struggle to secure a deal for 2019.

Akle said the 21-year-old Sydney product remained an important part of the club's plans going forward, but a decision on her immediate future would be put on hold until after surgery.

Garbin, meanwhile, is expected to only miss a week as part of the management of a niggling foot injury.

"We're just precautionary for her, she's got a problem with her foot so I'm taking medical guidance," Akle said.

"It's just been recommended that she has a week, just to ensure she'll be okay moving forward."

The Swifts dropped to sixth following last weekend's narrow loss to the high-flying Queensland Firebirds, a position below Sunshine Coast despite having notched two more wins than the Lightning in 2018.

Saturday's showdown with the fourth-placed Vixens offers Akle's team a chance to leapfrog their Melbourne opponents back into the finals standings.

"It's huge, we're in the top four one week and then we're sixth," Akle said.

"It's a massive game for us, just like every other one. We really do need to win, so turning up on Saturday is crucial."