The defeat means the Swans have lost comfortably to all of the top five teams this season, and rather than blaming injuries or ill fortune, Roos said it was a fair reflection of the Swans’ capabilities.
“We’ve done a really good job to rebuild the list over a really short space of time, but we’re certainly not at the level of St Kilda and Geelong and the Bulldogs and Collingwood,” he said.
“If it’s a one-off, you’ve got to say it’s a bit unlucky but four times; that’s just a reality of where we’re at as a footy club.
“Can we bridge that gap over the next eight weeks? Even getting from where we were last year to [potentially] making the finals is a step forward. To compete against Collingwood, St Kilda, the Bulldogs is a huge step.
“At this stage, we’re certainly not at that level with our talent.”
The Swans’ cause wasn’t helped by Daniel Bradshaw’s late withdrawal with knee soreness, while defender Tadhg Kennelly (knee) also pulled out on Friday.
With Adam Goodes blanketed by Simon Prestigiacomo and Jesse White struggling to make an impact, Roos said Bradshaw’s absence was keenly felt.
“With nine games to go and both their histories of knee injuries and knee soreness, it’s just no point in making an early call on them,” he said.
“They both probably could have played to be honest… but you don’t want to lose them for two or three or four.
“[Bradshaw] makes a big difference to us and you saw that. It’s certainly made it a lot easier for Collingwood, but he hasn’t been there for a couple of games and we’ve won a couple of games. Tonight, it probably had a bigger effect than what it has in the last couple of weeks.”
Roos said he expected Bradshaw and Kennelly to return against Richmond at the MCG on Sunday, but both will require fitness tests to play.
Also struggling up forward was first-year wingman Lewis Jetta who added another three behinds on Saturday night to take his season total to 15 without a single goal.
Roos conceded that the pacy West Australian needed a stint in the reserves to regain his confidence.
“At the moment, it’s just completely psychological. To be perfectly frank … he’s probably got to go back to the seconds and kick two or three goals because I don’t think it’s going to happen at senior level,” he said.
“That’s okay. He’s just a young kid and he’s just got the yips at the moment. The way to fix that is to get him back, get him playing good footy and kicking two or three goals in the seconds and he’ll be fine.
“It’s probably at the stage now where he’d run into an open goal and trip over the footy, but he’s a really talented kid and it’ll turn around. When it does, he’s the sort of kid who’ll kick 12 or 13 straight.”
