Longmire said Geelong’s ability to find a way to win has been impressive this season, following consecutive come-from-behind victories against Hawthorn, North Melbourne and Carlton in the opening three rounds.
“They are one of the biggest tests in footy and there are a lot of tests around,” Longmire said of the Cats.
“There is a test every week when you play AFL footy, but Geelong, simply because of what they’ve been able to do over the past six or seven years, puts them right at the top of the tree.
“They continue to do it week in, week out and they’re never out of the game. It doesn’t matter what happens on the scoreboard they’re always playing for the final siren, which is a trait that we admire enormously.”
While the Swans produced some of their better football in last Saturday afternoon’s 39-point win over North Melbourne in Hobart, Longmire said they needed to be even better against Geelong on Friday night.
“We’re still yet to put that full team performance together,” he said.
“I think everyone has their ups and downs in their game and it’s very hard to play a really strong brand of footy where we absolutely dominate an opposition team no matter who you’re against.
“The opposition are always going to get their share of it and I’ve been generally pleased with our ability to restrict the opposition when they’ve got their chance at it, but we can still get a little bit better.
“I think we’re heading in the right direction and we need to because there is hardly a bigger test in footy than Geelong footy club.”
The coach admitted that the Swans came very close to their best in the third term against the Roos, but added that his side needs more consistency quarter to quarter.
“You get a run on like that, it doesn’t happen too often,” Longmire said.
“When you’ve got that momentum it’s important to be able to put it on the scoreboard and we were able to do that and that was a real credit to the players to adjust at half time and really lift our intensity.
“To kick 11 goals was certainly something that we’d love to do a lot more often, but we know it’s not something that’s going to happen too much in league footy.”
With both the Swans and Geelong at the pointy end of the AFL ladder after three rounds, Longmire said it would be hard to separate the two this week, especially if last year’s SCG clash is any indication, with a late Andrejs Everitt goal deciding the contest.
“I think it’s a pretty close call this week,” Longmire said.
“I think both teams have had their period of success over the last couple of years and Geelong continues to put some of the doubters at rest.
“Last year’s game here at the SCG went down to the wire and was an absolute beauty and I expect that this week will be a similar type of game.”
In injury news, Longmire said the club has already ruled out Rhyce Shaw for Friday night’s clash, as the defender continues to recover from an abdominal strain suffered in round two.
