Despite posting a strong start, which saw the Swans hold a 24-point lead during the second term, the team was outscored eight goals to two in the second half and were beaten comprehensively in the stoppages and contested possession count in the final term.
Swans coach John Longmire said he was frustrated with his team’s efforts this weekend, particularly their second-half capitulation.
“It was obviously disappointing,” Longmire told SwansTV on Monday afternoon.
“Probably from about ten minutes before half-time I thought we had a fair bit of momentum and a lot of the game was up our end.
“In that second quarter we kicked 1.6 and GWS kicked three relatively easy goals on us, which hurt us a bit, but then probably ten minutes before half-time we didn’t get in and around the ball enough.
“Really from that point onwards and for the rest of the game we just got smashed around the stoppages and those areas where we’ve usually been good at, we weren’t very good at it on the weekend.”
Following Monday’s review, Longmire said there were a number of clear areas the Swans needed to work on ahead of their next match.
He identified accuracy in front of goal as well as being relentless around the ball as key focuses ahead of the club’s round two clash against Collingwood in 12 days’ time.
“We’ve got to make sure our contested ball is a lot more consistent across the entire game,” he said.
“We were minus 19 (in contested possession differential) in the last quarter and we just can’t have that going so late in the game.
“Over the course of the game we were in front at different times and were well in front at different times, but you can’t drop away that much in a quarter of footy.
“We had the momentum of the game in that second quarter a lot of the time and we kept on sending it back inside our forward 50, but we weren’t able to score probably largely through inaccuracy.
“They were also just scoring too easily and the combination of those two things, no matter who you play, is really difficult and we need to make sure that we spend the next couple of weeks before our next game working on those areas.”
On the injury front, Longmire confirmed that both co-captain Kieren Jack, who was a late withdrawal from the match with a stiff back, and Lewis Roberts-Thomson, who suffered a small groin strain in the third quarter, would have scans this week.
“Hopefully (Jack) is looking okay for Collingwood, but we won’t know until later this week,” he said.
“We’ll have to wait and see how he pulls up.
“Lewis Roberts-Thomson is having a scan but at this stage we just don’t know.”
Longmire said Alex Johnson, who will require a third knee reconstruction after re-injuring his left knee in his first game back for the Swans reserves, was remaining positive about his unfortunate situation.
“Alex is, as you’d imagine, really disappointed, but he’s putting on a brave face to this credit,” he said.
“He’s already talking about his rehab and getting on with things but clearly deep down inside he’s extremely disappointed with doing 12 months of rehab and already going through two knee reconstructions and then having to front up again and do the same thing.”
Longmire said the club would take a cautious approach with the young defender and would not rush his next reconstruction.
“We’re going to take some time with him now,” he said.
“He was getting some swelling in the knee from the first knee construction, so now we need to make sure that that is well on top of before the next stage.”
