AFL Daily: Swans to scramble as superstar to miss months; young Saint’s shock salary revealed

Sydney Swans superstar Errol Gulden faces months on the sidelines in a mammoth blow to the ladder-leading side.

Meanwhile, a Saints youngster is set to earn a staggering amount of money in the new deal he signed at Moorabbin.

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The Swans have confirmed that Gulden is set to undergo surgery on his dislocated shoulder later this week, which will sideline him for around four months.

While that timeline could have Gulden tracking to return ahead of the finals, it’s a mega blow to Dean Cox’s side in a year that it’s gone chips in on contending with the addition of Charlie Curnow.

“Sydney Swans midfielder Errol Gulden sustained a dislocated shoulder on Saturday night against Brisbane,” the Swans said in a statement.

“Gulden will have surgery later this week. He is expected to be unavailable for approximately four months of football.”

It marks consecutive years of injury disaster for the 23-year-old, who missed the first half of the 2025 season with an ankle injury.

Gulden injured his shoulder in Saturday night’s win over Brisbane, while Isaac Heeney also picked up a hamstring injury, though the severity is still to be determined.

“It’ll be what it will be, unfortunately, so hopefully it is quick. If it is longer than normal, then so be it as well,” Cox said of Gulden post-match.

“We’ve got to make sure we do whatever we can to get him right as quickly as we can, which might be Monday, Tuesday, it might be a little bit longer.

“We’ll wait for that and then work our way through it from there.”

The Swans will try to improve to 3-0 when they visit Hawthorn at the MCG on Thursday night.

YOUNG SAINT TO MAKE SHOCK COIN

St Kilda midfielder Mattaes Phillipou is set to earn an eyebrow-raising figure throughout his new deal.

Phillipou, who signed a two-year contract extension last season, is set to make seven figures in each of those two seasons, per Tom Morris.

The 21-year-old played just 44 games across his first three years in the league since arriving at Moorabbin as the No.10 pick in 2022.

“Mattaes Phillipou re-signed halfway through last year, extended two years - 2027 and 2028 - my understanding is that extension is around $1 million a year,” Morris told SEN Breakfast on Monday.

He added: “He hasn’t quite won over his teammates yet, I’ll give you that much.”

It’s a surprising amount for a player who hasn’t averaged better than 14.4 disposals and 0.6 goals per game during his short time in the competition.

Phillipou sustained a corked quad in St Kilda’s narrow loss to Melbourne on Sunday afternoon.

After a 24-game rookie campaign in 2023, Phillipou managed 13 and seven games respectively in the ensuing seasons due to injury interruptions.

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