Newcastle City coach Tim Cotter is resigned to not having Reed Van Huisstede for Saturday's Black Diamond Cup decider against minor premiers Terrigal Avoca at No.1 Sportsground.
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Van Huisstede, named AFL Hunter Central Coast most outstanding young footballer on Wednesday night and man-of-the-match in City's grand final win last year, finds himself double booked this weekend.
The 18-year-old will more than likely, pending selection, be lining up for the Sydney Swans reserve grade team in a NEAFL preliminary final showdown against the Lions in Brisbane on Sunday.
It comes after the Swans staged a stunning comeback, down 27 points in the last quarter and then kicking five straight goals, to eventually defeat Sydney University by nine at Giants Stadium in Saturday's elimination semi.
This presents Van Huisstede with two finals games in two different states within 24 hours of each other.
"We don't expect to have him," Cotter said.
"If we do end up with him, that's a bonus, but he's been part of the Swans program all year and has been fully committed to that.
"Like most footy clubs around Australia they [the Swans] will do selections at training tonight [Thursday] and all things going well he'll be with them again. He was almost a bit apologetic when it fell that way ... but I think he's got bigger fish to fry."
Van Huisstede, who kicked a major in the Swans win on Saturday, has played nine matches for City this season.
Cotter was set to finalise City's 22-man squad at training on Thursday night with Cade Triffitt, who now lives in Tasmania, potentially available.
Terrigal Avoca captain-coach Chris Bishop hopes his side will remain unchanged.
