AN HONEST assessment of where the Sydney Swans were heading following the club's disappointing 43-point loss to North Melbourne in round four has been the catalyst for the club's dramatic return to form.
The Swans have won five straight games – most recently a 50-point rout of Essendon on Friday night – and head into this week's bye brimming with confidence.
A meeting with fellow powerhouse Geelong awaits on May 29 but until then the Swans can be content with what they have produced.
Exciting Swans midfielder Luke Parker said the loss to North Melbourne at the SCG stung the team.
"We sat down after the North game and had a look at it and made a few calls that really we needed to turn around," Parker said.
"We needed to pick up our pressure. It was pretty basic stuff - our workrate really needed to lift - since then it has."
Parker is one Swan who can hold his head high as the club endured a sluggish start to the season.
This year the 21-year-old is averaging career highs in disposals (24.3 per game), goals (1.3), marks (4.8) and tackles (5.9), giving him claims to be in the conversation as one of the AFL's most improved players.
"I've just tried to be consistent," Parker said.
"Just playing to my strengths really – winning the hard ball, laying my tackles and trying to keep working on my spread as well.
"It always helps every pre-season when you get that little bit extra in the tank."
Parker set the tone early on Friday night against the Bombers, booting two goals in the first term, including a pearler from the boundary line. He also laid a team-high eight tackles to go with his 26 touches.
Swans coach John Longmire touched on the importance of his side's increased pressure, which started a week after the North Melbourne loss in the 17-point round five win against Fremantle. In that game, the Swans laid 102 tackles to the Dockers' 66.
"That was really the game that got us back on track a bit, we had been quiet up until then and, we thought, a 100-tackle game was a turning point as far as getting our pressure back up," Longmire said on Friday night.
Hard work will again need to be a staple of the Bloods' game when they face the Cats on Thursday week. As Longmire put it, his players will need to put the "overalls" back on as soon as they get back from a well-deserved four-day break.
