Sydney Swans coach John Longmire said his team will need to play their best pressure football to overcome Collingwood in Friday night’s Preliminary Final at ANZ Stadium.
Speaking ahead of the club’s first training session this morning, Longmire said Collingwood’s pressure in Saturday night’s Semi-Final win over the West Coast Eagles was back to the level which saw them reach consecutive Grand Finals in the last two seasons.
“I thought (Collingwood’s) pressure was outstanding,” Longmire said.
“If you look at the way they’re playing at the moment it’s what finals footy is all about.
“They’ve got back to some of that real pressure football that Collingwood are known for.”
The last time the Swans met the Pies was in a high-pressure contest in round 20, which saw Collingwood record an eight-point victory at ANZ Stadium.
Longmire said the round 20 contest was the perfect practice run for this weekend’s all important finals clash at the same venue.
“The last time we played it was a pretty high intensity game of footy,” he said.
“If you look at our game here (at ANZ Stadium) last time against Collingwood there were 173 tackles laid.
“Our pressure last game was pretty good, but that’s the challenge to keep going with that, and then you’ve got to make the most of when you are able to break that pressure.”
The Swans coach added that his side also needed to hit the Pies hard on the scoreboard when they get the chance, after inaccuracy in front of goal cost the home team last time they met.
“You’re got to make the most of it on the scoreboard, and that the greatest challenge to be able to take the opportunities when they present themselves,” Longmire said.
“When you’re able to do that you put scoreboard pressure on, which is the best sort of pressure.”
The Swans will be bolstered by the return of defender Heath Grundy in Friday night’s final, after he missed the Qualifying Final win over the Crows a fortnight ago through suspension.
“We’ve got Heath Grundy to come back into the team, and we just have to look at the mix and how the balance of the team looks this week,” Longmire said.
“Heath will come straight back in, and what else we put around that, we’re still yet to settle on that.”
While Longmire confirmed that Grundy would slot straight back into the team, he was less positive about the chance of injured forward Ben McGlynn making his return following a hamstring injury against Adelaide.
“(McGlynn) is coming along a lot better,” he said.
“The initial disappointment was that he probably thought the worse, but our doctor and the scan certainly showed that it wasn’t as bad as what it probably could have been and that was a positive that Benny took out of it.
“He’s unlikely to play this week, but he is doing everything he can to get himself right.”
Longmire added that Swans forward Mitch Morton remains a chance of holding his spot in the team, after playing his first full game against the Crows two weeks ago.
“He’s a chance, Mitch,” Longmire said.
“What he did last time was pretty good, so we’ll sit down and have a look at the team balance in the next couple of days and get a better indication of who will play.
“He didn’t do himself too much harm (in holding his place) last game.”
