John Longmire laments Sydney Swans’ missed chance

SYDNEY’S shot at Grand Final redemption has collapsed and piled on the misery.

After being the top side from round nine and looking like they had their ducks in a row, the Swans were subdued in the second term on Saturday at the MCG and collapsed to a 60-point hammering from Brisbane.

It follows their 81-point humiliation against Geelong two years ago.

Since John Longmire coached them to an epic grand final win against Hawthorn in 2012, Sydney have lost their last four key players.

The Hawks reversed the result in 2014 and two years after that the Western Bulldogs memorably broke their premiership drought.

It’s not quite the Colliwobbles, but whoever lost on Saturday would be facing despair given Brisbane went down in last year’s grand final.

The fact that it’s two heavy losses in three years compounds the pain for Sydney.

“I don’t think we made the best shot compared to what we did and we didn’t do what was needed on the day,” Longmire said after the game.

“I don’t think we used ourselves enough early on. I blew up a little too much.

“Then we got beaten at ground level and they managed to get it back, go back through us a little too easily.

“We didn’t put enough pressure around the ball.”

Sydney’s fate was sealed when Brisbane went on a seven-goal run in the second term, giving them a decisive 46-point lead at the main break.

Nothing worked. Isaac Heeney, so influential in Sydney’s two finals wins, finally succumbed to the stress fracture – Longmire called it a stress reaction – he had carried in a shin and had a bad day

But Longmire backed Sydney to rally, noting that they had done it before, after the pain of the Grand Final, and that they had the stamina to do it again.

“It’s a tough thing to do — you’d rather get in the ring and have a swing than sit outside looking in,” he said of determining the season.

“Finally, we were able to put ourselves in a position where we had an opportunity and we just didn’t do that today. I didn’t pass the test.

“We have a group of people, even beyond the football club, who are capable of doing that. It’s very difficult to win if you’re not in it.”

It is also the second time, after the Bulldogs in ’16, that a club has beaten Sydney for the flag after coming from outside the top four.

It will put a new emphasis on the pre-final bye, introduced in 2016. As the Lions built a head of steam with three consecutive games before the Grand Final, Sydney had a week off after winning their final qualification.

“I’m not going to put it down, but it’s not the advantage it once was,” Longmire said of earning the double chance by finishing in the top four.