What has kept the Swans at the top end of the ladder for so long?

HAWTHORN have finally relented. Geelong couldn’t quite get back there again but Sydney is in another grand final.

John Longmire has an incredible record at the Swans. Picture: Getty Images

HAWTHORN have finally relented. Geelong couldn’t quite get back there again.

Yet, somehow, the AFL’s other hearty perennial Sydney is in another grand final.

How do they do it?

JOHN LONGMIRE

Six finals campaigns, three grand finals and an amazing average 15.6 home and away victories in his six seasons as senior coach.

A testament to the tactical acumen, organisational skills and leadership of the calm, almost unassuming man who had the seemingly unenviable task of replacing Paul Roos.

But what sets Longmire apart?

Call it the Care Factor. It is the genuine concern and active involvement in the welfare of his players — exemplified, but certainly not limited to, the sensitive way he handled Lance Franklin’s health issues last season.

Longmire might not be a serial “hugger’’ like his Western Bulldogs counterpart Luke Beveridge. But his players know he has their back.

Sydney players celebrate last week’s win against Geelong. Picture: Getty Images

CULTURE

The famed Bloods ethos was established and executed by the class of 2005. Now it is imbued in the club and evident in the low key way the Swans go about their business.

Few clubs would have three former skippers — welfare officer Dennis Carroll, opposition analyst Stuart Maxfield and assistant coach Brett Kirk — actively involved with the club. That says something about how the Swans’ past informs their present.

THE PACK

Colleague and former Swan Neil Cordy likens them to a good rugby pack, the stacked Swans midfield that is both the bedrock of the game plan and the heart and soul of the team.

Josh Kennedy, Luke Parker, Dan Hannaberry, Kieren Jack, Tom Mitchell, Jarrad McVeigh. Throw in cameos from the versatile Isaac Heeney and the depth, durability and leadership of the Swans’ core is now unrivalled.

Many have wondered how the Swans have thrived this season despite introducing a large group of callow youngsters. Excellent recruitment and development play a part. But the Swans are building on a rock solid foundation.

Isaac Heeney could be a once in a generation player. Picture: Phil Hillyard

THE ACADEMY

Isaac Heeney is a once in a generation player. He soars like an AFL star, tackles like a front-rower and has superb vision. Callum Mills was voted the AFL’s Rising Star.

He is so unnaturally calm he looks like he was born with a Sherrin in his hands.

Rivals will say the Swans have been handed two No. 1 draft picks when they should have been at the end of the queue.

The Swans will remind them that an academy does not work without superior scouting, player development — and they now have to pay a much heavier price to retain those they pluck from the clutches of rival sports.

Inarguable is that Swans have gotten some first rate talent.

BUDDY

Watch Lance Franklin working tirelessly up and down the ground in the decisive first quarter of last week’s preliminary final. Then tell Swans chief executive Andrew Ireland the nine-year, $10 million deal was a ludicrous gamble.

That Franklin has kicked 80 goals this season is even more meritorious given the ground he covers, his defensive work and the space he creates for the forwards at his feet. That he has played with a smile on his face is equally telling.

THE CAP

You have to whisper this one at Swans headquarters.

But there was a period when a few out-of-contract stars such as Kennedy and Hannaberry accepted far less than they might have gotten elsewhere — this pay gap narrowed by the 10 per cent extra from the cost of living allowance. This created more cap space to recruit/retain others.

Before Swans’ fans start screaming ... yes Sydney is more expensive.

And players would not accept less to stay if the club’s culture, coaching etc. was not first rate. Just as players at Geelong and Hawthorn have accepted lesser contracts to stay with successful clubs.

Lance Franklin has been brilliant for the Swans this season. Picture. Phil Hillyard

HEATH GRUNDY

‘’Reg’’ is possibly the least fashionable Sydney defender since cult figure Rod ‘’Tilt’’ Carter.

Yet first with Ted Richards, now beside Dane Rampe, Grundy has been the lynchpin of a Swans defence regularly considered a potential weakness.

This ‘’vulnerable’’ Swans back half conceded an AFL low 66.7 points per-game this season. In the preliminary final they lost the inside-50 count 72-40 to Geelong but allowed just seven goals. That’s deee-fence.

SYDNEY

The warmer sea water where the rest aching bodies, the comparative privacy, the bonds forged between players mostly living in a new city without family and old friends.

What Melbourne does for the Storm, Sydney has done for the Swans.

Both clubs repay their cities with unstinting excellence.