Collingwood have suffered a blow ahead of round one, with Jamie Elliott set to be sidelined for a month due to a nagging back injury that has plagued him for much of the pre-season.
Elliott will miss the opening round against the Swans and potential more due to the injury, which is known as Pars Defect.
“We’ve decided we’re going to take him out of the program for three or four weeks and ... let him settle,” director of football Neil Balme told the club's website.
“We’re pretty confident at that stage he should be right to go again.
“We’re pretty optimistic that he’ll have an impact for the rest of the season.
“But we can’t say exactly when yet.”
Balme said that the injury is "similar but not the same" to the back issue that saw him miss a small amount of time last season.
The high flying forward kicked 35 goals in 20 games last season.