THE SYDNEY Swans are refusing to look too far ahead or contemplate a home final, saying they just want to keep up the form that has led to impressive wins over Geelong and St Kilda.
Following their upset loss to Richmond three weeks ago, the Swans' place in the top eight was under serious threat.
But they have since responded with a gutsy home win over the Saints before shocking the AFL on Saturday with their first victory in Geelong since 1999.
Sitting in seventh, just behind the Saints on percentage, the Swans' ladder position going into the first week of finals depends on the result of their SCG clash with the Brisbane Lions on Saturday and St Kilda's tussle with Carlton.
Swans coach John Longmire says his side won't be entertaining any thoughts of a percentage-boosting win against the Lions and will focus only on keeping up the standards they have set over the past fortnight.
"The last couple of weeks our main focus has been just the foundation of our game, contested ball and our tackling and our strong defensive work," he said.
"That will continue to be our focus for the rest of the year, however long it lasts.
"It's really hard to switch that on and off - we have to keep training for that as coaches and players and this week against Brisbane making sure we execute it.
"The Lions were 29 points up against a top-four team (West Coast) on the weekend and they've been more than competitive this year in various games.
"We have to be really switched on this week."
The Swans match kicks off at the unusual twilight time of 4.10pm on Saturday, with the St Kilda-Carlton match commencing at 7.10pm.
But Longmire won't be rushing to a television upon the conclusion of his match to see what's happening in Melbourne.
"What tends to happen after games is you just think about what you've just done," he said.
"That's what we'll do again this week.
"We'll prepare to play as well as we can this week against Brisbane, hopefully execute the way we want to, review that, assess that and then look to next week.
"It's a well worn cliché but we can only worry about what we can control.
"I'll see (the St Kilda game) at some stage after the game."
Typically when the finals roll around, only teams that finish in the top four have a realistic chance of making it all the way to the grand final.
Since the AFL adopted the eight-team finals series in 1994, Adelaide is the only side to finish outside the top four and win a flag.
The Swans form in the past two weeks, however, has had some - including Geelong coach Chris Scott - speculating that they may be able to cause some major damage in September.
Longmire wouldn't speculate on what they may be able to do next month, hoping only that his players would retain their strong form.
"Who knows? It's too difficult to predict what's going to happen," he said.
"We know that finals series are unpredictable. What I do know is we need to be in form at the right time of the year and that needs to be this week as well.
"The last two weeks have been really good for us, we need to make sure we carry our form into this week and give ourselves the best possible chance of still being in form the week after."
Watch the Sydney Swans tune-up for the finals in this Saturday’s twilight match against the Brisbane Lions at the SCG. The Swans played the Lions in the final home and away round last year, winning by 38 points at the Gabba. Tickets to Saturday’s match - starting at 4.10pm - can be purchased by clicking here.
