Swans coach John Longmire says the decision to use Mark Seaby as the sub against Melbourne was partly driven by concerns about the fitness of Shane Mumford.

The Swans were the only Club to opt for a ruckman as the sub during round one, with a number of teams choosing a running player and Melbourne going with forward Ricky Petterd.

Longmire says he doesn’t believe the new interchange rule, which allows for three interchange players and a sub, played a part in the Swans going from 24 points up in the third term to finishing with a draw.

“We had a lot of the ball in that third term and to only get three goals from 20 inside 50s to Melbourne’s 10, you know that is going to hurt you. You need to make the most of your opportunities when you get them,’’ Longmire said.

“Mummy’s knee was a bit sore last week. So you go into a game thinking it might be unfair to Jesse White if something happened to Mummy, Jesse would be one out on (Melbourne ruckman) Mark Jamar.

“Those things are all taken into consideration. At the end of the day you make a decision based on not only your substitute but also your other 21 players. We thought we had the flexibility to cover any scenario that happened.

“Ricky Petterd was on the end of three centre clearances in a row, and twice he was on a young player in Gary Rohan so in the end it was not about running, it was more about body positioning.

“I don’t think (the sub and interchange) played a big part in the result. But it would have played a big part if we had lost Shane Mumford and didn’t have a ruckman to go against Jamar.’’

Longmire said the main reason the Swans didn’t win the game was because they lost the contested possession count by a long way.

“The big thing for me was contested ball, we were minus 35 so if you want to look at a reason why we … drew the game, it was that.’’

He said the team would work on that this week.

“There is personnel and making sure you get the right players around the ball but mostly it is mindset, making sure your tackle efficiency is where it needs to be.’’

Longmire said the players were looking forward to testing themselves against a resurgent Essendon side this Sunday at ANZ Stadium.

“Essendon are looking very good, they’re up and about, there is no doubt about that. They are jumping out of the block but we look forward to playing them and our players can’t wait for the game to start.’’

Longmire said Lewis Roberts-Thomson would definitely have to play another reserves game before being considered for senior selection, and Tadhg Kennelly was also likely to play in the reserves practice game against GWS on Sunday, while Daniel Bradshaw would not be right to play yet.