RUCKMAN Peter Everitt will miss Sydney's opening premiership match against St Kilda on March 22 after failing to recover in time from knee surgery.

Everitt, who played every game for the Swans last season, had an arthroscopy in early December and was expected to be back in time for the season opener, but coach Paul Roos said yesterday his time had run out.

Sydney has just one practice match remaining, against the Brisbane Lions in Canberra on Saturday.

"I don't think anyone who is not playing next week will play in round one," Roos said. "No, Spida certainly won't be playing next week and I'd say now he would definitely miss round one.

"Now it's just about when he can get back to training and how much game time we need to get into him. We really haven't put a time on when Spida will be ready to play. We'll have to look at someone else for the rucking in round one."

Roos is likely to use Lewis Roberts-Thomson and Ted Richards to partner Darren Jolly in the ruck. Roberts-Thomson and Richards shared ruck duties in 2006 when Sydney was stretched by injuries and it worked well.

The other option is 20-year-old Jesse White, who has played in the ruck during this pre-season. While White "has put his name up there", Roos said, "it would be a big ask" for a player to make his senior debut in that situation.

Roos plans to have six new inclusions in Saturday's team, with Richards, Amon Buchanan, Nick Davis, Tadhg Kennelly, Jared Crouch and Craig Bird all playing.

Kennelly will have his first run since knee surgery, while Crouch will also make his 2008 debut.

Ever since his record-setting streak of 194 consecutive games came to an end in 2006, Crouch has been bothered with injuries. He played only eight senior games last season, and has been battling hamstring problems this pre-season.

Meanwhile, there will be no action over comments by Roos that personal issues between him and the AFL were behind investigations into whether the Swans had intentionally tried not to win their NAB Cup game against Hawthorn two weeks ago.

An AFL spokesman last night said Roos' remarks were not an issue, adding that the league's job was to address issues in the game.

The Swans have been called to explain after an interchange steward informed the AFL he overheard Roos tell Jarrad McVeigh to "go for ward, just don't kick a goal" in the closing stages of their two-point loss.

McVeigh was not available for comment last night, but in a statutory declaration to the AFL, he said he did not hear what Roos is alleged to have said.