Sydney Swans know where their list is at as chairman declares John Longmire is ‘up for the fight’

Amid discussion about John Longmire’s future at Sydney, chairman Andrew Pridham says believes the coach could not be more committed to restoring the Swans as a flag contender.

Sydney coach John Longmire has two more years left on his contract. Picture: Getty Images

Sydney chairman Andrew Pridham says John Longmire is the man to restore the Swans as a flag contender, declaring “he’s up for the fight”.

Pridham told the Herald Sun the Swans knew exactly where the were at, not officially rebuilding but attempting to rejuvenate the list.

Sydney has already pumped the most games into debutants across the AFL in the past three years, with half of its senior team 24 and under.

But as the Swans have started the season 1-5 there has even been speculation about whether Longmire is the man for the list transition after nine years at the club.

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Pridham said the term rebuild indicated a club stripping back its entire program, believing Longmire could not be more committed to the task of improving the Swans.

“The fans wouldn’t have missed the fact we are not going too well but everyone gets it. We have been consistent and competitive

“John has got two years on his contract and we all think he is the right man for us. There are no issues there. John is definitely up for the fight. He is as committed a person as I have ever worked with. He is committed, he works very hard and we couldn’t ask for anyone better to be leading our team.”

Longmire is contracted until 2020 and while he would immediately be snapped up by a rival club if he decided to move on he has spoken repeatedly of completing the list transition.

He told the Herald Sun in the pre-season that “over the last three years we have seen the evolution of our list. It’s nothing else than that but we make no apologies for trying to evolve our list.”

Pridham said not conceding to an official “rebuild” was less important than what was actually happening with the list.

“I think the semantics over what the words are, to me when people talk rebuild we are always building, we are always evolving. To me a rebuild takes you down the path where the whole structure around the footy program needs to be stripped back and changed.

“We are not anywhere near that, we have got stability in the whole footy program and clearly we have got some work to do on the field.”

The Swans are backing coach John Longmire to return the club as flag contenders. Picture: AFL Photos

“If you have a look on Saturday, we had 1600 games of experience last year that was not on the park this year. (Lance) Franklin, (Heath) Grundy, (Nick) Smith, (Jarrad) McVeigh, (Dan) Hannebery, so clearly the list is always evolving.”

Pridham was interested in GWS board member Jimmy Bartel’s comment that NSW clubs might need a return to the cost of living allowance.

“Cost of living and housing in particular is the main thing. Clearly it is an issue. It’s not what we are focusing on but it’s interesting a whole new group of people at GWS are hearing what we have been saying for a long time.”