SYDNEY Swans coach Paul Roos has challenged his players to back up their fighting words with actions ahead of a sixth consecutive finals campaign.
The Swans host the Brisbane Lions at the SCG on Saturday night and will look for their second win in six weeks, after falling to Collingwood by 45 points last weekend.
And they may be forced to do it without star half-forward Ryan O'Keefe, who is in a race to overcome the flu, while dual Brownlow Medallist Adam Goodes is sidelined with a groin injury.
After the loss to the Magpies, Roos said the Swans wouldn't do much damage in September and that the "end of an era" could be nearing after a run of dominance that included the 2005 premiership.
It was a point he made again on Friday morning.
"Well, after you lose by 45 points and you play like we did last week, there's no way known we'll beat anyone in the finals," Roos said.
This week, a number of senior players have voiced that the eighth-placed Swans can have an impact in the finals and Roos hopes that talk can become action.
"I can talk, they can talk we can all talk, it's not hard to do that," he said.
"I can tell you what a great player I am but it doesn't make any difference.
"So it's about actions. I'm confident they can do it and I hope they are too but that'll be determined on the field not what I say or what they say.
"It's about how we respond as a group and that'll start tomorrow night."
Roos may have some reason for confidence, revealing that Thursday night's training session was one of the best of the season.
"Of course, you can train really well but have your worst game of the season but I've sensed the players have responded well," he said.
"Can form fluctuate? Absolutely. What we have to do is get back to some form tomorrow night and then obviously play a lot better next week and, over a two-week period,there's no question that can happen."
Roos added that the players were vigorously looking for reasons for the form slump which saw the Swans lose fourth spot on the ladder.
"I think the players are searching for answers, the coaching staff are searching for answers and it's hard for the playing group because they've been such a competitive group for so long," he said.
"And sometimes they're not sure what the answers are.
"So tomorrow the message to the players will be don't worry about things that are out of your control. It's the point about what I say in the media, what Adam (Goodes) says in the media what Brett (Kirk) says in the media. All that's irrelevant.
"It's about what a player can control when he gets out on to the field. So that's the challenge. Not to worry about why, but remember how they did it and go and do it again."
