The Sydney Swans winning streak was stopped last week when the side suffered a 29-point loss to St Kilda at Marvel Stadium in Round 21.

The side entered the clash with plenty of confidence after five consecutive victories, but the team’s slow start, effectiveness in pressure and numerous turn overs were to the sides detriment said John Longmire.

While disappointed to not come away with the victory, Longmire remained proud of his side who have had a strong ‘block of footy’.

“We have to start better. We have been able to have quarters or periods of the game where we have been able to respond really well,” Longmire said.

“It has been our effectiveness in pressuring the opposition, and we need to do that a little bit earlier. We just need to make sure we put an enormous amount of pressure on the opposition early in the game rather than letting take the early momentum.

“We need to make sure we get the momentum from the first bounce rather than waiting to see what the opposition have got to serve up.

“Ultimately, when the first bounce is completed, you need to be able to get into the combative stuff straight away, and we have just been a bit on our heels in the first quarter,” he added.

“We have had a pretty solid six weeks. It has been a pretty good block of footy and we understand we have some things to work on, but we also understand we have done a lot of things right in that period as well.”

Sydney are preparing to face North Melbourne this weekend and will be looking to return to the winners’ circle as the team looks to build momentum heading into the back end of the competition.

Despite their position on the ladder, and just two wins in their past five weeks, Longmire knows the opposition can’t be underestimated.

“They have been fantastic and the second half of the year, they have been super competitive,” Longmire said.

“They are playing a really strong, hard brand of footy and have been in every game. They have been one of the better forming and consistent teams in the back half of the year so we expect a really tough contest.

“They have a lot of senior players available now, are playing good footy and have confidence in each other so we think it will be a really tough battle.”

Midfielder Justin McInerney, who this week was named in AFL Players’ Association 22under22 squad, supported the need for the team to return to their trademark of high pressure.

He knows that if he and his teammates are off in any area, North can capitalise.

“When you are a bit off, or a couple seconds off, anyone no matter who it is, is going to put you to the sword,” McInerney said earlier this week.

“We were away from our trademark, our pressure, so they gave it to us.

“We have to go back to what works, our pressure and contested ball. If we can hone back on those, hopefully the result will take care of itself.”