With last Sunday’s loss to North Melbourne the club’s third defeat from four matches, Longmire said Saturday’s clash against the 2013 grand finalists was a critical match for the Swans to get their 2014 season back on track.
“There’s no doubt we’re after a win,” Longmire said ahead of Tuesday’s training session.
“We want to make sure that we give a more competitive performance to start off with.
“We were really disappointed with our performance on the weekend and we need to turn it around.”
Longmire said the Swans’ start to the season lacked consistency, adding his team needed to adopt an attitude of working harder for longer.
“Some of the statistical areas in our game at the moment aren’t up to scratch and we need to make sure that this week we get back to putting the overalls on and get back to work,” Longmire said.
“Ultimately that’s what AFL football is about in working harder and longer than your opponent and we haven’t been able to do that on a consistent basis, and we need to make sure we work harder for longer.”
The Sydney Swans train on the SCG on Tuesday afternoon
Despite the Swans’ poor start to the season, Longmire remained confident his team could get back on the winners’ list and pointed to Fremantle’s recent form turnaround as evidence of how it can be done.
The coach highlighted the Dockers’ round four win over Essendon, which came just a week after the club’s 58-point loss to Hawthorn, as an example of how the Swans needed to respond this weekend.
“We saw that (Fremantle) were very disappointed in their own performance the week before against Hawthorn and they were able to bounce back really strongly and aggressively,” Longmire said.
“Fremantle were able to show how to bounce back and how to show some reliance after the previous week’s performance, which they wouldn’t have been happy with.
“They came back and were really strong last week against Essendon, so that’s something we look to as an example.
“The challenge ahead of us is to make sure that we bounce back with the same sort of determination to work hard for a full four quarters.”
The Swans’ chances this weekend could be bolstered by the return of key forward Kurt Tippett, who has been sidelined for the opening four rounds of the season with a knee injury.
Longmire said Tippett had trained well on Monday morning and could be in the mix to make his return for the Swans this weekend.
“He trained again yesterday and trained really well and has pulled up well,” the coach said.
“We expect him to play this week, but the discussion will be whether it will be in the reserves or seniors.
“He has got a record of coming in off very limited pre-seasons, and last year was a great example when he didn’t play for half the season and he was able to come in and make an impact straight away.
“We’ll make those decisions based on what’s good for the team, but also what’s good for Kurt.”
