Sydney coach John Longmire has laid bare what he expects of his players regardless of the make-up of his side, underscoring the importance of playing trademark Swans football ahead of a crucial battle with Collingwood.
The Swans will face the Magpies at the SCG on Saturday night as they eye a return to the top eight in a crucial third-versus-ninth Round 20 showdown.
Last Friday’s loss to Essendon saw Sydney slip from the top eight for the first time since the completion of Round 5, and matches with Melbourne (sixth), GWS (fifth) and Hawthorn (seventh) will follow the Collingwood duel in a challenging run home.
Injuries to veterans Jarrad McVeigh, Kieren Jack and Dan Hannebery have left the Swans with 761 games of experience in the stands across the past three games.
Losing Sam Reid, Lewis Melican and Callum Mills to injury setbacks have also thinned Sydney’s stocks during the season, while ruckman Sam Naismith suffered a season-ending knee injury ahead of Round 1.
Nine players with less than 30 games’ experience took to Etihad Stadium for the match with the Bombers, while 11 Swans were 23 years of age or younger.
But Longmire insists there’s a way the Swans must play regardless of who is on the ground.
“Regardless of personnel that’s in there playing, we need to be able to contribute,” Longmire said.
“There are things regardless of personnel, like laying effective tackles, putting pressure on the opposition, just doing the things we’ve done for a long time, that regardless of who’s there and their preparation, it’s a required level we’ve got to achieve.”
Collingwood has won eight of its past 10 games and knocked off potential finals-contenders Melbourne, Essendon and North Melbourne on the way.
It fell to a 28-point loss to Richmond at the MCG last Saturday but trailed by just five points at three-quarter time.
The Magpies’ midfield has again been brilliantly led by captain Scott Pendlebury this season, while 203-gamer Steele Sidebottom and young gun Jaidyn Stephenson have found plenty of the ball.
Brodie Grundy presents a colossal challenge in the ruck and Josh Thomas, Will Hoskin-Elliott and American import Mason Cox combine for a dangerous forward mix.
Longmire says applying immense heat around the footy will be paramount in the Collingwood clash.
“We need to play a fierce brand of football,” Longmire said.
“We need to put enormous pressure on the opposition. It’s very important to have effort when you don’t have the ball and then the offensive part of the game is built on top of that. If we get our pressure up on the opposition and they’re not moving the ball as well as they’d like that’s a good start. If we make mistakes on top of that so be it, but we need that part of the game up and going.”
