Head coach Longmire lauded his more experienced players ability to lead from the front in his side’s victory against Hawthorn in Round 8.
In wet conditions, the Swans provided an inspired performance comprised of tough consistent effort to get home in the final quarter, despite a late surge from the Hawks. Longmire was quick to attribute to this to a desire to win across the board, headed by a vigilant performance from his leadership group.
“Into the last quarter I thought our leaders were good, Rampe was sensational and so was Luke Parker, Jake Lloyd. Some of the younger blokes like Florent, Rowbottom, and Ling were able play a part too - It’s hard to train for pressure games against experienced teams…and they were able to hang in there,” Longmire said.
The Swans’ ability to adapt quickly and effectively was also a large contributor to the win according to Longmire, maintaining composure in wet weather conditions.
"We were losing some of the contests in the attacking midfield area, getting beaten in the loose ball gets,” Longmire noted.
“The players adjusted well and we were able to change our ball use to half the contest - we played smart from halfway through the 2nd quarter onwards.”
An electrifying 4 goal haul from Tom Papley also caught the eye of the head coach, Longmire pleased with Papley’s ability to energise player’s around him also.
"He’s got that personality to win, he’s got that natural instinct and when you've got the energy it does rub off on people,” Longmire said.
One of those people was undoubtedly Elijah Taylor, with a strong performance off the back of his debut in Rd 7.
"He’s got some serious talent - he’s learning on the job against some experienced defense, we were probably found out a bit at times in terms of the youth of our offence, but they held their ground well.”
Impressed by his side’s performance, Longmire reiterated that his side will look to take the win in their stride and continue to develop.
"They were able to have more scoring shots than us, so we’ll continue to improve in a few areas,” Longmire said.
"We want to build on this win, and we’d like to keep winning - that’s what we’re about as a footy club and we need to make sure we get that balance right."
