The Sydney Swans have added South Adelaide forward Hayden McLean to the club via the new pre-season supplementary list rules to replace injured defender Jack Maibaum.

McLean did a medical with the club on Friday before returning to South Adelaide to train however he is understood to have been informed by the Swans today that he will be added to their list as a rookie.

The Swans began to look to add a player via the pre-season supplementary list after they lost youngster Jack Maibaum to a knee injury and had examined whether to choose McLean or former Collingwood defender Sam McLarty.

However McLean, who was vice-captain of Vic Metro in 2017 and Sandringham's best first-year player last year, got the nod having done a pre-season with the highly regarded South Adelaide.

McLean is the third mature-aged player South Adelaide have lost ahead of this season with Nathan Kreuger joining Geelong and Keegan Brooksby joining the West Coast Eagles, leaving the the SANFL club without a key player ahead of the season.

The Panthers are unlikely to be compensated for the loss with state leagues - while supportive of players getting greater opportunity - hoping a structure can be set up that helps clubs who lose players in such circumstances.

The pre-season supplementary period closes on March 15 with Michael Gibbons, Matthew Cottrell (Carlton)
Zac Clarke (Essendon), Shane Mumford (Giants), Corey Wagner (Melbourne), Tom Campbell (North Melbourne), Maverick Weller, Sydney Stack (Richmond) and Brooksby (West Coast) already joining clubs under the new rule.