SYDNEY Swans coach John Longmire says his team has some work to do to defend its 2012 premiership after being shown up by Hawthorn in Saturday night's Grand Final rematch. 

The Swans kicked just 1.4 in the first quarter and spent the rest of the night trying to get back in the game, trailing by 40 points at half-time before eventually losing by 37. 

It was the Swans' second loss for the season after falling to Geelong in round four, and Longmire said improvement needed to come in a tough stretch of matches against Fremantle (SCG), Collingwood (MCG) and Essendon (SCG). 

"We need to improve and that's the job ahead of us for the rest of the year," he said on Saturday night. 

"That starts next week against Freo and that's our challenge. We need to make sure we put a bit more pressure on and use the ball a bit better than what we did tonight."

Ball use on Saturday night was a major issue for the Swans, who held their own in clearances (44-41) and inside 50s (51-53) but let themselves down when delivering the ball to their forwards. 

Key forward Sam Reid suffered and was held goalless, with Josh Kennedy, Ben McGlynn and Ryan O'Keefe leading the way with two goals each. 

"We turned the ball over or we kicked it shallow," Longmire said.  

"We took a number of marks inside 50, but they were probably wide or not deep enough. 

"When you miss those easy targets going forward and turn the ball over that puts some pressure on our defenders."

Adam Goodes was tireless in a midfield role, finishing with 27 disposals, 10 inside 50s and a goal, but Longmire said he didn't have enough help on-ball. 

"It's probably the best I've seen him run and join in for a couple of years in the midfield mix," the coach said.

"I thought he was really running hard and made a big difference when we put him in there, but obviously we didn't have enough jumping onboard. 

"It was one of those games with 'Goodesy' where we needed him forward and we needed him midfield because he was running so well. 

"We'd like to use him a bit more as a pinch-hitter in the midfield than a genuine mid all game."