SYDNEY Swans coach John Longmire warned returning co-captain Adam Goodes he may end up with the red substitute's vest at some time against Geelong on Friday night in his first game in seven weeks.

Longmire believes his superstar didn't really believe him, but it happened, and it resulted in substitute Andrejs Everitt kicking the game's winning goal.

A Tom Hawkins goal 20 minutes into the final quarter gave the Cats a two-point lead, but Everitt - who had only been on the ground a matter of minutes - took a contested mark inside 50m and slotted it from a tight angle for the game's decisive moment.

Asked cheekily if it was his plan all along to bring Everitt on to win the game, Longmire replied: "Yeah, I managed to do that, so that worked OK.

"I said to him 'can you go on and kick a goal?' and he obliged, so he's a very coachable player.

"He's a great kick. As coaches we were thinking about the what-ifs after, but he was pretty good when he came on and gave us a real spark.

"Obviously it was a pressure kick and he delivered."

For a man with 306 games to his credit, it's rare for Goodes to enjoy any unique experiences in a game of football, but wearing the red vest certainly was unusual for the dual Brownlow medallist.

Longmire admitted afterwards, however, that it had been a pre-conceived idea to potentially remove his co-captain, who hadn't played since round six due to a torn left quad.

Goodes finished the game with just seven disposals and two marks and was regularly rotated off the ground before being taken out for good.

"There was thinking from the senior coach, there wasn't much thinking from Adam about being subbed out tonight," Longmire said.

"I said to him before the game 'look, don't get too dirty if I tap you on the shoulder during the game and put the red vest on you'.

"He was actually quite obliging and probably didn't think it was going to happen.

"But it happened. We were just rapt for him to get through the game and to get the win was terrific."

The 27,400-strong crowd held its collective breath as Everitt lined up on goal with 90 seconds on the clock, but Goodes' fellow co-captain Jarrad McVeigh told sydneyswans.com.au he had plenty of confidence in his teammate.

"He's been striking them well all week and we know he's a really good kick for goal," McVeigh said.

"We backed him in and it sailed through nicely."

Longmire conceded he hadn't actually passed on the message to Goodes that his potential match-winner would be leaving a game that was well in the balance, but said it is simply a reflection of modern football.

"I didn't tell him. I didn't speak to him on the phone. I'm not that silly," Longmire said.

"I made sure I told someone to deliver that message.

"It's modern footy and we've all got to get used to it. Maybe a bloke who has played 300 games just takes a bit longer to get used to it."

James Dampney covers Sydney AFL news for AFL.com.au. Follow him on Twitter: @AFL_JD