The Sydney Swans will travel to Melbourne this week for a Thursday night game at the MCG. Senior coach John Longmire appeared in a Monday press conference (July 3) to reflect on Round 16, comment on Tom McCartin's recovery and discuss the upcoming match against Richmond.

On Round 16

“Our review was certainly around what we did right. We did a hell of a lot right in that game and played some terrific football. Strong forward half footy, we used the ball well and we used our numbers well. We just didn’t finish and that was costly for us but this week is a new week and a new shot at goal. You just have to put it behind you and move on to the next game.”

On the draw format of the AFL

“It is what it is, I don’t spend too much thinking about that. For fans, players and coaches, everyone has the same feeling, it might be something for the game to look at some point. I’m focussed on the Tigers this week and getting that right.”

On the performance of the young players

“We feel like we’re continuing the build of our young group. We have a very young and inexperienced midfield but they’re doing a great job and I said that last week. Gulden, Sheldrick, Campbell and Rowbottom. We feel they’ve been pretty consistent for us. They’re not going to get it right every week but they’re doing a lot right and that’s been terrific to see. It’s good for the footy club.”

On Tom McCartin

“We’ll see how he goes at training tonight and make a call tomorrow on both Tom and Lance. See how they both pull up from training today and whether we pick them for this week. The good thing is if they both get through training, for the first time in a long time we’ll have some selection pressures which is terrific. We felt like the team performed strongly and we’ve got some players to get back into the team if we need them. That’s a good position to be in.”

On Lance Franklin

“He’s a chance. He’ll train today and see how he goes. He’s been running and building back. If he gets through the training session and feels good... we’ll make that call tomorrow if he feels up to it. The question last week was whether he had done enough at training but not tip him over. That’s the fine line.”

On the team’s pressure on the ball

“We’ve been the number one pressure team in the competition this year. It’s been other things during the course of the game that we have let ourselves down. We haven’t played a full four quarter performance as often as we should have but we’ve felt, in the couple of weeks, we played pretty well. We felt on the weekend, as I’ve said, that we played really good footy against a quality opposition team. It’s matter of doing that more often than not.”

On belief

“There’s still a belief we can play really good footy and that’s where our focus is. If you look at the first half of the year, we played good footy in patches. Over the last couple of weeks we’ve been consistent with that. Most of the time on the weekend I thought we were really strong and that’s a good sign that we’re able to play good strong defensive footy and turn into attack and have plenty of shots at goal."

On Round 17 v Richmond

“We’ll have to take what the game gives us this week – it might be a bit different. Thursday night at the MCG might be a bit wet and slippery. Richmond is a different opposition, we have to keep adjusting, learning and have different ways of playing. Most importantly, if we keep our foundation up which is contest and pressure around the football it gives us a good chance.”

On what to expect from the Tigers

“They generally play a really high-pressure game and they’re a forward team. Their form over the last four or five weeks has been pretty solid. They dropped away last week but they’ve been pretty good. They might get Martin back into the team this week which is another positive for them. We’re looking forward to a good contest. Thursday night down in Melbourne will be a beauty.”

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