THE SYDNEY Swans have an excellent recent record against West Coast, winning the last six meetings between the sides, while they haven't beaten Collingwood since 2005.
With the Eagles and Magpies to meet in a semi-final on Saturday, and the winner to head to Sydney for a preliminary final, it would appear obvious which club the Swans would prefer to face.
Not so, according to coach John Longmire.
Having lost 11 straight games against Collingwood, Longmire was asked if he would prefer it was the Eagles they would meet on Friday week.
"No, what will be will be on Saturday," he told reporters.
"I'm a big believer in I really think what's happened in the past is not that relevant.
"It's what's happening right now that is the important thing, and that's what we'll be concentrating on session by session this week, and then what happens on Saturday."
The Swans took advantage of their top-four finish by knocking off the Crows in Adelaide to give themselves a week off and a home preliminary final.
Longmire said the club would now "take a small breath" before designing a training schedule he hopes will have it best placed for the final four showdown with either Collingwood or West Coast.
Hawthorn's Cyril Rioli said on Monday he would "love to be playing this week", rather than having a week off, but Longmire disagrees - provided the Swans get their planning right.
"You'd always like to be in a position where you can play well and win a final, particularly away, and then come back and have the weekend off," Longmire said.
"If you were going to have a decision to make, that'd be the one you'd make, but it doesn't mean automatically things are going to roll on.
"That's why we need to make sure our training program is spot on because we have to keep the intensity up and we have to keep the pedal to the floor."
The Swans received some reasonably good news on the injury front, with Ben McGlynn's hamstring injury not as bad as first thought.
Longmire doesn't know if McGlynn is any chance of featuring in the preliminary final, although with an initial two-to-three week diagnosis, it would seem unlikely.
Luke Parker, the substitute in the past two games, would be a chance for some extended game time in McGlynn's absence, with Tony Armstrong also pushing for a recall.
One player who may have grabbed his opportunity is Mitch Morton, who kicked two goals and demonstrated some important pressure skills against the Crows.
"With Lewis Roberts-Thomson going back, we had to shuffle things a little bit in our front half, and Mitch contributed pretty well," Longmire said.
"To be able to kick a couple of goals and contribute to a few others was good.
"His pressure and his understanding of what our structures are like was a real positive for him."
Longmire was also asked if he hoped for a physical battle between the Pies and Eagles.
"I don't think it'll be bruise-free football, put it that way," he said.
