Sydney Swans coach John Longmire addressed the media at the SCG on Monday afternoon.

Sydney is set to face Port Adelaide at Adelaide Oval on Saturday afternoon.

Here are some key quotes from the press conference. 

Sam Naismith’s injury setback

“We’ll be without Sam Naismith again this week because of a knee issue. We’re still hopeful that he’ll get back to the seniors this season. We want him to be back playing senior footy as soon as possible. We were hoping he’d play on the weekend and get through because we’d then be able to pick him for this week. But he’s now missed the weekend’s game and he’ll be out again this week. We’ll be trying to put the foot down because we need him.”

Evolution of team

“Our main challenge is setting up our team in the best-possible way. We think we’ve taken some steps forward. It’s not just about setting this team up to move up the ladder next year; it’s about setting this team up to be a contender for a long period of time. We’re exploring how Tom McCartin goes down back and what we’re doing with Jordan Dawson, Oliver Florent and Hayden McLean. We’re looking at how the team needs to look to get ourselves not only up the ladder, but to be able to set ourselves up for another period of being a really competitive team.”

Lewis Melican’s omission for GWS clash

“He’s missed a fair bit of footy over the last couple of years. He went back to the NEAFL and got a bit of confidence in our reserves then came in and played a good block of football in our seniors – and that’s what we’re looking for again. Sometimes part of development is going back a step, working on your craft and your trade at the lower level and then trying to display those attributes at senior level. He was able to do that at the start of the year and we’re confident he’ll be able to do that late in the year.”

Facing Port Adelaide

“They’re a good team, they’re a quality team and they’ve got some really quality players, so we’re looking forward to that challenge.”

Isaac Heeney’s 100^th match

“We’ve been really happy with Isaac. He competes at a really strong level. He’s had a wonderful learning year in being a part of our leadership group and driving the standards of not only himself but others, and he has a big impact. On the weekend he was fantastic for us up forward. He was flying for his marks, he has great hands and he almost helped lift the team over the line. He’s got great attributes for a young player and we think that Isaac, Callum Mills and some of the other young boys have been super and are starting to drive the standards.”

Heeney’s injury-troubled season

“All the great players are able to play with a certain level of discomfort throughout the course of the year and sometimes they have to play with that for the whole year – and that’s what Isaac has been able to do this year. He had a great pre-season, he was tackled in the last game of the pre-season, he injured his ankle and that’s lingered a bit, but he’s been able to put it to one side. He hasn’t pulled out the insurance card and used it as an excuse, and he’s been able to roll the sleeves up and getting going.”