Sydney coach John Longmire has made the heart-wrenching call of deciding to leave his captain Callum Mills out of the side that will face Brisbane in Saturday's AFL grand final.

The Sydney Swans were left with the tough decision of ruling out their skipper Callum Mills from taking to the field for the AFL Grand Final.

Mills injured his hamstring at training two weeks ago following the Qualifying Final win over GWS and while he trained at full capacity on Wednesday in a bid to return for the decider, the club has opted against taking the risk.

Sydney have reached a verdict on whether to rush back captain Callum Mills for Saturday’s grand final. Here’s which way the Swans have gone.

Sydney captain Callum Mills won't play in the AFL grand final after the Swans opted not to risk the midfielder off a hamstring injury. Mills missed the Swans' preliminary final win over Port Adelaide after suffering a minor hamstring strain at training on Tuesday, September 10.

Mills was picked for the 2016 grand final loss to the Western Bulldogs after overcoming a hamstring injury suffered in the first week of that year's finals. Longmire knows better than most how risking an injured player can pay off or backfire.