HARD work and discipline - and not any leveraging of the Cost of Living Allowance - are the real keys to the Sydney Swans' outstanding form, says coach John Longmire.
The debate over the Swans' use of the COLA and ability to put together their talent-rich outfit flared once again over the past week, with Western Bulldogs president Peter Gordon leading the charge.
It came fresh on the heels of the Swans' 110-point demolition of Geelong at the SCG last Thursday night.
Gordon commented publicly that the Swans had "exploited" the COLA and it was "almost farcical" to see how the Sydney club had used the 9.8 per cent addition to its salary cap.
Swans CEO Andrew Ireland responded over the weekend, labelling the comments "offensive", and asking the AFL to come out publicly and reiterate the Swans' use of the allowance was all above board.
Longmire wasn't interested in a slanging match with other clubs, simply pointing out his view that work ethic has been the key to the Swans' six-game winning streak.
"We review our game, concentrating on the discipline and effort of our players," he said.
"We thought both areas were outstanding on Thursday.
"If you're looking at the composition of our list and how it was put together, those are the things we focus on.
"It doesn't take all that much talent to pressure the opposition, but you have to do it consistently well.
"We weren't doing it for the first month and have been able to do it for the last six weeks. That has nothing to do with talent."
Pushed further on the issue, Longmire did concede he was troubled by the amount of commentary being made by other clubs.
"We haven't had too many high draft picks for a long time and we want to keep being competitive," he said.
"We believe our blokes work generally pretty hard and that's what we'll concentrate on.
"We'll let everybody else talk about their opinions on people's lists.
"I do get a little bit dismayed at times, and this is a personal view, when clubs offer really strong views on other clubs and how they should or shouldn’t go about their business.
"We’ll just focus on what we do and worry about ourselves.
"I just know that our players work really hard at what they do and other clubs clearly have different opinions on that."
The next on-field challenge for the Swans is to take on the Suns on the Gold Coast on Sunday.
Gary Ablett will once again take up plenty of Longmire's planning, stating all or some of Kieren Jack, Ben McGlynn, Craig Bird or Jarrad McVeigh could be tasked with curbing his influence.
But he isn't the only Sun causing Longmire some headaches.
"I'm sure he takes up a lot of the planning time for most coaches," he said.
"He certainly is a rare talent in AFL football and his ability to win one-on-ones is as good as what there has probably been.
"When he decides to win it, he wins it.
"We've had a bit of trouble with him in the past and need to make sure we look after him this week.
"But (Dion) Prestia is having a fantastic season and we saw (David) Swallow on the weekend play really good football and (Jaeger) O'Meara – their midfielders are going to be really dominant players for a long time.
"If you put all your attention into Ablett, those others are as good now as any going around."
