Missing out in September never gets any easier, according to John Longmire, who when speaking on 3AW Sportsday earlier this week, admitted it still takes time to get over the disappointment before looking ahead to a new season.

“Most years, unless you win the premiership, there’s disappointment in the way you finish. You set high standards for yourself and the football club, so really it takes a couple of weeks to get it out of your system,” Longmire said.

“We were really disappointed in the way we lost, we felt like we had more to give, but the reality was we didn’t get it done and that’s what finals are all about.

“You need to make sure you take time to process that in the off-season, while also stepping back and looking at the bigger picture and realise whilst it was disappointing to lose the elimination final, there was some gains made this year that we were really pleased with.”

Of the many positives to come out of the Swans season, was the performance of star forward Isaac Heeney who Longmire says will only keep improving.

The coach had plenty of praise for Heeney who managed to play through pain last season.

“Isaac has been outstanding. He’s had some really difficult injuries that he’s had to overcome and he still gets out there and plays, it’s remarkable,” Longmire said of his progression over the past few years.

“Even this year with his hand, his ability to play through injury is as good as I’ve seen. More often than not, it’s an injury no one knows about because a lot of them are contact injuries.

“He kicked 36 goals, and kicked four in the elimination final which nearly helped us get over the line. Isaac’s a very important player for us, and he’s got high expectations of himself and his ability to get out on the park every week is at such a high level.”

“Last year he had a significant ankle injury that essentially ruled him out for the entire season,” Longmire added.

“He then had a limited pre-season but he recovered, we started to see what his body could handle, and he was able to play really well at the back end of the year.”

Longmire has revealed the 25-year-old could play a dominant role in the midfield in the upcoming season.

“He got through this season quite well, and was training at the back end of the season really well and was able to play games really well. He naturally keeps himself in fantastic shape so we’ll be playing him more in the midfield this season,” Longmire said.

“Whilst it’s hard to replace those 36 goals in your forward half, and he’s a real threat in the forward half, we think he can still play in the midfield and push forward.

“It’s only the pre-season though, and we’ll use him where we need him, but we’d like to play him more in the midfield.”

Longmire also had plenty of positivity surrounding the Swans number 18 draft pick Angus Sheldrick.

Eighteen-year-old Sheldrick is a competitive, contested ball winning inside midfielder who played a leading role at Colts level with Claremont in 2021, winning the best and fairest.

In the WAFL Colts Grand Final, Sheldrick was a standout gathering 27 disposals and booting two goals.

“A couple of weeks before the draft, I got involved in our draft previews and had a look at Angus and one thing that stood out is that he’s pretty tough. He’s a fierce competitor, and that was the word coming back from our recruiting staff and that’s certainly what I saw in the vision,” Longmire said.

With quarantine measures still in place in West Australia, Longmire will have to wait to until the New Year to welcome Sheldrick to pre-season training.

So too, fellow draftee Corey Warner who will begin his professional footy career at the Swans alongside brother Chad.

“He’s a different type to Chad, he’s probably played that wing, high half-forward role. He’s an amazing athlete, his speed, power and endurance combination is at a really high level so we’re looking forward to that,” Longmire said.

“We’re looking forward to getting those WA boys over here in January. They’re not here at the moment and that’s a challenge. It’s better they stay home though, rather than come to Sydney then have to quarantine when they go back at Christmas time. We can’t wait to say g’day to them all and see them in January.”

New recruits Peter Ladhams, Matthew Roberts and Lachie Rankin begun training with the Swans this week.