SYDNEY Swans’ development coach Brett Allison has said the Swans reserves securing second place on the ACTAFL ladder and ensuring at least two games of finals action will benefit the senior side as they head into their September campaign.

“It’s pretty important that we finished in that second position because it means we have another two games minimum to ensure that our players are still playing games as the seniors go into finals in case any of them are required,” Allison said.

The Swans finished just behind Belconnen on the ladder, who they were defeated by last weekend by 10 points, to secure a week off and Allison insists that his side still have every chance of winning the premiership.

“They’ve been the top team all year. They finished four games clear at the top, with second, third and fourth all finishing equal on 40 points… but there’s no reason we can’t turn it around," he said.

"They’ve been consistent all year but we’re not that far away from them. It’s going to be our mindset that decides whether we can.”

However the former North Melbourne player said the most pleasing thing about the reserves season was the amount of players they managed to blood for the senior team. Craig Bird, Ryan Brabazon, Matthew O'Dwyer, Nick Smith, Patrick Veszpremi and Jesse White all made their debuts in season 2008.

“It’s been a positive season in terms of trying to get new blood into the senior team," he said.

"The most positive thing from my point of view has been the willingness to learn of those young blokes who are always wanting to get better and try and find out more information and get more feedback about their games.

"But then the challenge for them is to actually listen to what that feedback is and put it into practice.

"So generally the ones that have been able to get into the senior team this year are the ones who have been good listeners too. Possibly others that haven’t got there this year need to improve that skill.”

Allison revealed the Swans in waiting are given strict key performance indicators (KPIs) that they need to meet if they’re to have any chance of making the breakthrough to senior level.

“They know the figures they need to attain and, to be quite honest, if they don’t reach those KPIs then chances are they’ve had a pretty poor game… it’s no secret that we like to be known as a very accountable team.

"We like to play one-on-one football so they’ve got to do well in those areas.

"We like to win our own ball, so hard ball gets is an area that is focused on pretty strongly. Ball use is really important so we keep a good eye on turn overs.

"Those things really count if you’re going to be looked at senior level.”

Despite the obvious temptation for reserves players to focus on their individual games in an effort to be discussed at match committee, Allison insisted that such behaviour is not tolerated in the team-orientated reserves.

“Each one of them wants to play senior footy and wants to get into that team but you can’t do that by yourself so that’s the main thing we try and impress on them," Allison said.

"Yes we know that they’re all at different stages of their careers, they’re all trying to go for the same goal, but you’ve got to be able to do it as a team.

"You’ve got to be able to do it together. You’ve got to share the load during a game or it’s not going to work.

"If you don’t do that you’d be better off playing an individual sport rather than a team game. You’d be better off playing tennis or golf.”