THE SYDNEY Swans will resist the temptation to rest any players ahead of the looming finals campaign.
It has become common practice in recent years for some top-four clubs to rest players in late-season fixtures in a bid to freshen them up for finals.
Ross Lyon has been the chief advocate, employing the strategy in 2009, 2010 and 2013 with his St Kilda and Fremantle sides, while Alastair Clarkson also rested several senior Hawthorn players against Gold Coast in 2011.
On those occasions, those clubs were all but secure in their ladder positions; a blessing the Swans don't currently enjoy.
The second-placed Swans are battling Hawthorn and Geelong for a top-two finish, so coach John Longmire won't be taking any chances, starting with St Kilda this week.
The Swans close out their regular season against the Western Bulldogs and Richmond.
In a blow to Tigers fans hoping for some help in their club's belated finals push, Longmire ruled out resting his players.
"Have you seen the ladder?" Longmire said.
"No, we make sure we play our best available squad and if we need to freshen them up, they'll miss a training session, as they've done during the course of the year.
"If we feel as though they're a bit sore, that's what we'll do.
"But come game day, we try to play the best available team that we've got.
"We do that every week and I'm sure between now and the end of the year it'll be the same."
Nine Swans have played all 19 games this season, including running defender Nick Malceski and midfielders Josh Kennedy, Jarrad McVeigh and Lewis Jetta.
Last year the Swans limped into the finals with an injury-riddled squad, meaning a raft of top players were running on fumes in the brutal preliminary final loss to Fremantle.
But the Swans have carefully shared the midfield load this year, with players such as Ben McGlynn, Jake Lloyd, Harry Cunningham and Craig Bird spending more time in that part of the ground.
The Swans also face a different run-in to the finals than in previous years.
Back in 2012, the Swans had bruising encounters against Collingwood, Hawthorn and Geelong in their run home and lost all three, along with a routine win over the Bulldogs.
Even though they lost those games to fellow flag aspirants, afterwards the Swans stated that the manner of those matches left them perfectly placed to reel off a stunning finals campaign and claim that year's premiership.
They had to navigate a similar road last year, but this season games against the Saints, Dogs and Tigers represent – on paper at least – a very different lead-in to September.
So how does Longmire view the different schedule this time around?
"I view it just as tough as any other season," he said.
"I had a coach that used to say to us all the time through the '90s, any team on any given day is capable of beating anyone else.
"That's just a fact.
"We've seen that over the course of this year and I'm sure we'll see it between now and the end of the year.
"You need to be at your best every time and be absolutely professional and ruthless in your approach, no matter who you play."
Longmire added that he wouldn't be spending any time worrying whether they would finish first or second, or should try to boost their percentage over the closing rounds.
He is keen to get some more game time into Dan Hannebery, Kurt Tippett and Rhyce Shaw after all three returned from injuries in recent weeks.
And he also refuses to look past a St Kilda side that demonstrated its capabilities with its shock thrashing of Freo in round 18.
"We always plan for the opposition's best," he said.
"As we saw against Fremantle, St Kilda's best was pretty good that day, so that's what we'll plan for this weekend."
