AFL 2023: John Longmire reacts to Sydney Swans’ loss to Melbourne

Sydney coach John Longmire says changes have to be made to avoid the final-quarter fade-outs that have hurt the Swans in recent weeks.

James Rowbottom and Ryan Clarke of the Swans.

John Longmire admits changes have to be made if the Swans are to challenge in September following another fourth-quarter fade out against Melbourne.

Sydney rushed out to a 17-point lead during the third quarter, kicking four straight goals to bring the home fans to their feet.

However, the Dees proved too strong, kicking the final six goals of the match and ruining any chance the Swans had of locking up a home game in week one of the finals.

If not for a controversial non-goal decision last weekend against the Crows, it could have been two consecutive late collapses that meant they were watching the finals from home.

“I’ve got a few ideas why, but it’s always a combination of a few things, it’s never one thing,” Longmire said.

“We’ve got to change it a bit. We’ve got to do something better at three-quarter time. We have to look at what we can do.”

The Swans have struggled on multiple occasions this season to close out games in the final term, which has often overshadowed the work they have done for three quarters.

The major contributing factor on Sunday was their inefficiency in front of goal as they wasted strong opportunities in the first half to open a big lead.

Isaac Heeney reacts after missing a shot at goal. Picture: Jason McCawley/AFL Photos/via Getty Images

The Swans looked to have fixed their goalkicking issues over the past month but Longmire admitted it was a concern to see them return in their last game before finals.

“You’ve got to finish them a bit,” Longmire said.

“The last couple of weeks have been really good. We’ve been able to hit the scoreboard really well over the past month, we’ve been really efficient and effective.

“So, it happened a couple of times. And it was costly tonight.”

Overall, Longmire still felt there were a lot of positives to take out of the defeat.

“I thought we played some really good footy for a fair bit of the game,” he said.

“We played really good contested footy against the best contested ball team in the comp. At three-quarter time we were in front.

“We had all parts of our game going, winning contests was a big part of it and we were able to transition the ball really well. Our defensive shape was really sound.

“It was just four or five minutes before three-quarter time ... up until then I thought we played really good footy.

“Their good players – Petracca, Viney, Fritsch – in the last quarter, they really got going.”

John Longmire speaks to his players. Picture: Matt King/AFL Photos/via Getty Images

Tom Papley was a late omission for the Swans as he deals with hamstring tightness. Longmire said that while he was running at 90 per cent, the decision was made not to risk him.

Attention for the whole team will now turn to September action with a trip to Melbourne for the first week of the finals.

Nick Blakey, Tom McCartin and James Rowbottom all came from the field against the Dees but were able to play out the match.

However, an extra week off for a team that has made a habit of fatiguing late in games can only be a good thing for Sydney.

“Yeah, we’ve got some things to work on,” Longmire said.

“We played some good footy over the past seven weeks, but we know we’ve still got a bit to go. So we’ll reset, freshen the boys up and see who and where we play and get into it.

“(Melbourne) are an A-grade team and I thought we played pretty well for a fair bit of the game. (In finals) you’ve got to play pretty well for the whole game.”