Dane Rampe to lead Sydney into prelim after Mills ACL tear
Dane Rampe will captain Sydney in its preliminary final against Fremantle at the SCG, standing in for injured skipper Callum Mills for the rest of the season.
The Sydney Swans confirmed the 36-year-old defender as stand-in captain for the remainder of the 2026 campaign Sydney Swans. The winner of the preliminary final goes straight through to the Grand Final, the last game of the year.
Mills tore the anterior cruciate ligament in his knee — the ACL, a key stabilising band — in the first quarter of Sydney's qualifying final win over Brisbane. A qualifying final is the first-week finals match that gives the winner a week off and a direct path to a preliminary final. Sydney won that game by 53 points ABC News.
It is a shattering blow for Mills. The club says the tear is season-ending. Reports say he faces the possibility of missing the entire 2027 season as well.
Rampe knows the job. He was named Sydney co-captain with Josh Kennedy and Luke Parker for the 2019 season. The trio handed the captaincy to Mills at the end of 2023.
He also stepped in last time Mills went down late in a season. Mills suffered a hamstring strain before the 2024 preliminary final, and Rampe captained Sydney to that year's Grand Final.
That history gives this appointment extra weight. Rampe has played in four Grand Final defeats, in 2014, 2016, 2022 and 2024, and is still chasing his first premiership. He was re-drafted as a rookie alongside fellow defender Jake Lloyd at the end of last year. Lloyd has signed on for a 15th season. No decision has been made on whether Rampe will play on next year.
Sydney's lead-up has been messy. Isaac Heeney, Chad Warner, Nick Blakey, James Jordon and Riley Bice are serving club-imposed bans after a post-match incident at the Pullman Hotel in Melbourne. None will play again this season.
There is some better news on fitness. Forward Joel Amartey and midfielder Justin McInerney are close to full fitness for the Fremantle clash after Achilles and hamstring injuries respectively.
Mills has had a cruel run with injury since taking the captaincy. He was restricted to seven games in the 2024 season. He was first named captain for 2024 despite a serious shoulder injury.
For fans, this means a familiar face in charge at a tense moment. Rampe reads the play from defence, organises those around him, and has been here before. Sydney will need all of that against Fremantle with so many senior players missing.
