Sydney in the midst of a rebuild as coach John Longmire calls for patience from fans

After nine consecutive years of playing finals, Sydney’s dynasty appears to be over and coach John Longmire has pleaded patience from fans as the Swans embark on an an unprecedented rebuild.

As subtly as he could possibly say it, Sydney Swans coach John Longmire has admitted the club that’s prided itself on never having a rebuild, is having a rebuild.

After nearly 25 years of almost unyielding excellence, the Bloods have accepted they need a full transfusion.

What has made the Swans so great for so long is how fiercely they have fought to maintain their high standards, and Longmire can usually barely hide his disdain for losing.

But following Saturday night’s 41-point loss to the GWS Giants, Longmire, for one of the first times in his unbreakable nine-year tenure at Sydney, was philosophical and almost accepting of defeat.

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Longmire had a smile on his face post-match as he described an almost religious experience: watching a squad of fresh faced youngsters at the very start of a journey, which could take years to fulfil.

And for the most part, he enjoyed the epiphany.

“Just getting in amongst the players and understanding that they’re a different crew. You’re looking on the bench and you’re talking to different players now, and I actually really enjoyed that challenge,” said Longmire.

“I didn’t enjoy the scoreboard as our supporters wouldn’t have, but as far as teaching those younger players and talking to them and communicating during the game and at halftime (I enjoyed the experience) … we need to evolve the team…”

John Longmire says the Swans are planning for the long-term future. Picture: Getty Images

Longmire will this weekend pass Paul Roos for most games coached in Swans history, but on Saturday night, the 48-year-old made the frank admission he too must learn to “evolve” with the unprecedented situation he is now facing.

Sydney have played finals football for 20 of the past 23 years and have never missed September since Longmire took the helm in 2011.

This year it seems it’s all over by April.

The Swans threw absolutely everything at GWS on Saturday night in comfortably their gutsiest and classiest performance of the season, yet they were still thrashed on the scoreboard in a game they had publicly declared was do-or-die for their finals hopes.

The vibe was very match that although winning is important, it’s now not about 2019, but about the future and Longmire has implored Swans fans to accept the reality of the club’s situation and pleaded patience.

“I’ve got to evolve too. I’ve done a little bit of it over the pre-season – recognising the changing (nature) of the group,” said Longmire.

“… I’m hoping our supporters can see that as well. We’ve got a good group coming through. We think we’ve got some good things here coming through. It doesn’t always gel straight away, but that’s what we’ll keep working at.

Swans players after their loss to the Giants. Picture: Getty Images

“We’ll try and fast-track it as quick as we can. We’ll just keep coaching them as well.

“We think that over a long period of time we’ve provided reasonable value for our supporters … hopefully our supporters understand that and get behind us with that.

“We think over the last 15-20 years, we’ve been having a real crack and we’re still going to have a crack, but we’re also going to keep bringing through that next bunch of players and keep teaching and developing … we can’t make any short-term decisions based upon that either.”

Lance Franklin might miss another week with his hamstring injury, but it’s clear now the Swans won’t be taking any risks with rushing back their long list of injured senior players.

The kids will be given time to experience losing, learning on the run, growing and finally, to win again.

Tough decisions await Swans management, and champions like Kieren Jack, Heath Grundy and Jarrad McVeigh may not have many days left in the red and white now the club has accepted the reality of its situation.