Swans coach John Longmire was watching this year’s preliminary finals when, a couple of verses into the National Anthem, the realisation hit home.

“This was the first time in four years we weren’t playing at that time of the season.”

Not since 2011, Longmire’s first season at the helm, have the Swans failed to progress as far as the AFL’s penultimate fixture.

It didn’t sit well with Longmire being confined to watching on from home or the playing group with the coach receiving numerous text messages saying the same thing.

“We’re all hungry to return to that stage,” he said.

During his post-season address at Friday night’s Club Champion Dinner, Longmire challenged his players to take on board the criticism surrounding this year’s performance and embrace the challenge to achieve more in 2016.

Longmire said, depending on what perspective you take, there were both positives and negatives to be taken away from the season gone by.

Sixteen games were won, a game shy of the Swans’ highest tally recorded in a home and away season.

“We earned the double chance and were only nine points off progressing to a home Preliminary Final,” Longmire added.

Overbearingly, however, the Swans never earned that Grand Final rematch and finished lower than third for the first time in four seasons.

“Therefore we failed.”

Longmire admitted to sitting somewhere in between the two outlooks, far from disappointed but far from content.

Winnable games were lost, tougher tasks went without four-quarter efforts while wins went without driving the point home.

But of the top eight finishers, the Swans’ future looks considerably bright given seven players had 50 games or less experience which was the second highest number behind the Western Bulldogs.

Four experienced finals football for the first time while four debutants were blooded earlier in the season.

Collectively, Longmire said, these positives would only help the Swans play a consistent finals-like brand of football all the while keeping a close eye on the future.

A future which will see Longmire coaching a successful finals series and not watching on from home.