The countdown might be on for some but any talk of finals football isn’t happening within the Swans camp, according to coach John Longmire.
The newest members to the top four are instead focusing on the final two rounds of the home and away season, in particularly Sunday’s Round 21 clash against St Kilda.
The Swans are a four points clear in double chance territory and need to keep winning to cement the spot with Richmond and the Western Bulldogs hot on the tail.
The need to stave off the other contenders and make the best of the time left is why Longmire isn’t looking too far ahead.
“We’re in a situation where our destiny is in our own hands,” Longmire said on Monday.
“I know everyone is talking about finals but we’ve still got two games to go…we’re really determined to make sure our focus is solely on the Saints this week.
“Point number one is to play well this week and our focus won’t deviate from that.”
St Kilda will be aiming to finish off the season on a good note and is in good form having interrupted Geelong’s push for a spot in the top eight with a hard-fought draw on Saturday night.
The Saints played an exciting brand of football and will no doubt challenge the Swans at Etihad Stadium on Sunday which has Longmire looking for a performance similar to last weekend’s big win over GWS.
“We need to be a bit more consistent, we were OK in patches against Collingwood and better last week,” Longmire said.
“Our challenge is to put four quarters together, that’s what we’d like to do and the task ahead of us this week.”
Longmire is sweating on the fitness of a number of key stars including Lance Franklin, Gary Rohan, Ben McGlynn and Tom Mitchell with the latter of the four almost certain to return after missing a week through an eye injury.
Franklin is also a strong chance to return from a back injury which has seen the star forward miss the past three weeks.