How a 112-point loss saved the Swans’ season

One month ago, Sydney Swans coach John Longmire sat in the post-match press conference at Adelaide Oval struggling to articulate what had happened after a 112-point defeat to Port Adelaide.

Longmire had never experienced a defeat like it in his coaching career. But instead of immediately telling his players exactly what had gone so disastrously wrong, he decided to listen to them and gave them two days off.

“I guess at that point of the season we needed to – we spoke about it before that game – to be able to go away and have a couple of days and freshen up,” Longmire said.

“And the feedback we listened to after that game, we acted on. Sometimes you’ve just got to do it. You’ve just got to act with the feedback you get, and we did that, and we were able to refocus.”

What a difference two days make. In the Swans’ case, it helped them save their season. Since that defeat, the Swans have put together a four-game winning streak, starting with a hard-fought three-point win against Collingwood at the SCG that helped them secure the minor premiership and followed, most recently, by a six-point qualifying final comeback win against the Giants.

That victory earned the Swans a crucial week’s break, and Longmire’s men are now primed for a preliminary final rematch with Port on Friday night at the SCG.

Port Adelaide, who play a high-pressure game that frequently unsettles the opposition into coughing up turnovers, boast an 8-0 winning streak against the Swans.

Longmire believes his team’s response against the similarly high-octane Giants side at the SCG provides a blueprint for the Swans to follow against this tactic.

“At this time of the year you’re going to have to withstand that [pressure] and give it back as well,” Longmire said. “So that [performance] gives us some confidence, but we know we’ve still got to continue to do it ... and that’s the challenge at this time of the year, no matter what’s happened previously, you’re looking forward ... and we’ve still got to withstand the heat and then we’ve still got to deliver it as well to the opposition when they’ve got the ball.”

Longmire watched Port defeat Hawthorn in last Friday’s semi-final but would not be drawn on coach Ken Hinkley’s $20,000 fine for engaging verbally with the Hawks after the game.

“I try to stay out of it as much as I can,” Longmire said. “The only thing I will say is coaches are at the front and centre of a lot of things, and it’s a pretty tough job, and Kenny’s done a fantastic job with that football team. I think I’ll leave it at that.”

In 14 seasons coaching the Swans, Longmire has only missed a final series twice. But, before one of the biggest games of his coaching career, he is still not taking September football for granted.

“It’s tough for the team to compete every week,” Longmire said. “It probably gets underestimated how hard and how difficult that is in a draft and a salary cap type environment.

“But I’m really pleased that we’re here at the pointy end, we’re about to play another prelim final we’re about to play at the SCG in front of our loving fans, and we can’t wait.”

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