THE SWANS have been outspoken about the potential peril if their territory was prematurely invaded, but when The Age broke the news yesterday that the AFL would establish a second Sydney team in 2012, the club responded with silence.

Chairman Richard Colless refused to comment, CEO Myles Baron-Hay didn't answer calls and the line from the media spokesman was: "We haven't spoken to the AFL about the full extent of their plans, so we're not going to say anything."

Instead, fears felt by the Swans were expressed by its greatest player, Bob Skilton, who said he believed Sydney was many years away from being able to support another team.

"I think we're way, way, way too early," said Skilton, the Swans' team of the century captain. "It's taken us 25 years to scratch the surface. I don't think there's any way we're ready for another team.

"The real test will come, heaven forbid, if we have had a bad spell. The night we celebrated 25 years in Sydney it was pointed out just how fortunate we are to still be here. We weren't getting support from the AFL and we've worked very hard to get where we are."

Skilton said he didn't believe the competition needed more than 16 sides and said the game's development in NSW had not progressed far enough to split the supporter base.

"They want to expand the game so they can get more publicity. But I don't think we have the depth.

"How many NSW kids are in our side, let alone how many Sydney kids?"

AFL players union chief Brendon Gale backed the decision to expand the competition by two new teams to take in the Gold Coast and western suburbs of Sydney, saying he was pleased the move will not come at the expensive of any other club.

Yesterday, in an exclusive interview with , AFL chairman Mike Fitzpatrick revealed the AFL is hoping to have a new team on the Gold Coast by 2011 and hopes a second Sydney-based team will follow the year after.

Gale said the players would support moves to grow the game nationally.

"Certainly from our point of view any expansion of the competition, any opportunities to take this great game to new markets, whether it be the Gold Coast, western Sydney or even Tasmania, we would clearly support that," he said.

"We have known about this for some time and we are very pleased the 17 and 18th teams are coming through expansion and growth and not and the expense of other clubs."

Fitzpatrick's revelations that the AFL is considering testing footballers for drugs by taking hair and saliva samples has won only qualified support from the union, which has some concerns over the accuracy of such testing.

Gale said there were currently "question marks" over the testing procedures, which are designed to detect drug use up to three months before the test.

"It (hair and saliva testing) is not without precedent, there are some question marks about it, it is our understanding that urine tests are the most reliable," he said.

He said should the issue of reliability be taken out of the equation, the union would back the new testing "providing it is done in accordance" with the current illicit drug testing policy.