John Longmire insists a Top 4 finish is not a primary focus as the Sydney Swans head into the business end of the season, and has instead praised the club's resilience after persevering through a tumultuous month that has seen them record three consecutive victories.
The Swans currently sit in sixth place on the competition ladder, and have recorded emphatic wins over the Eagles, Bulldogs and Giants, that has them brimming with confidence with just five games remaining in the regular season.
The behind-the-scenes efforts of players and staff to overcome the challenges of COVID-19 has made the wins all the more rewarding - as the club has endured a ruthless travelling regime and been forced to spend time away from friends and family.
Longmire says a 'day by day' approach has been imperative in order to not get caught up in events that are outside of the club's control.
"The approach that we have taken is to just get on with it. We don't spend too much time talking about what we haven't got, because if we spend time in that space, we end up a bit flat," he said.
"We talk about the opportunities that these challenges present and the players are fantastic at that and they switch on to the footy stuff when required, and they keep themselves present.
"That's really important - staying in the moment as much as you can and not using too much energy in things outside of your control.
"There is so much stuff that's outside of your control in these sorts of environments that you can get caught up in that, and the players were good in that last year as well.
"We only won five games last year but I was really proud of our players ability to get over hurdles - whether that be their injuries or on he road for an extended period of time without family.
"I'm really confident our playing group can be tight at the backend of the year, but that's not to say that players and staff have their ups and downs. That is just part of it.
"Sometimes we have our good days and then we have our bad days."
The Swans come-from-behind victory over the Giants on Sunday evening was headlined by mass last-minute changes with Callum Mills, Harry Cunningham, and Colin O'Riordan being late withdrawals as they attended the Australia v France rugby match that was re-classified as a Tier 2 COVID-19 exposure site.
Longmire has detailed the moment he told the rest of the playing squad about the changes, which was captured on broadcast vision and showed an overwhelming reaction from the playing group that typifies their 'whatever it takes' attitude
"I just told them what it was - these guys are out, and these guys are in," he said.
"We had to make sure we make the most of it really. It was was a pretty quick discussion point right before the players went out onto the ground.
"We just told them what it was and the players have generally got a really good attitude with things they have to overcome on a daily basis.
"They're just a really good group that I'm proud to be a part of."
While three consecutive wins has put the Swans in prime position to challenge for a place in the Top 4, Longmire was quick to hose down that ambition and emphasised the importance of 'living in the moment'.
They will now set their sights on the Fremantle Dockers this Sunday afternoon, with the Round 19 fixture also celebrating the club's long-standing charity partnership with Redkite.
"I live in the moment, our players live in the moment, our staff live in the moment.
"We don't project too far ahead and we use our energies on a day to day basis. As soon as you start to project too far forward, you can lose focus on what you really doing on a daily basis.
"That's a really important part of it as-well, is just to down the tools. So if we get all the processes right, that tends to take care of itself."
