SYDNEY coach John Longmire has blamed a sluggish start for his side’s one-point defeat to Fremantle at the SCG, rather than Logan McDonald missing an after-the-siren shot that might have snatched victory, or at least a draw.

McDonald had an opportunity to complete a come-from-behind win for the Swans with a set shot after the final siren from just outside the 50 metre arc on Saturday afternoon.

SWANS v DOCKERS Full match coverage and stats

But the key forward sliced his kick wide and it failed to even make the distance as the Dockers held on to break the Swans’ 10-match winning streak.

Longmire said that McDonald was “a bit disappointed” but added that he did not expect the 22-year-old to look at booting at least a behind with his last-gasp shot with the match on the line.

“Just have a shot and back your routine in, I guess that's all we're after,” Longmire said.

“It didn't quite get there but those sorts of things happen. That's one moment in many others that were probably more important for what we needed to get right, and take away that need of luck.

“Sometimes that happens over a shot like that, and there's not much he can do about it. He'll learn from that and we'll all learn from that, but I'm not focused on that.”

The Dockers booted the opening three goals of the match and added another four to the hosts' two through a blistering opening term, as the Swans trailed at the first change for the fifth time in their past six matches.

While the Swans have been able to score quickly and heavily to overrun their previous opponents as part of 10 consecutive victories, the ladder leaders ran out of time on this occasion as the Dockers rallied late and never conceded the lead.

“We have looked at it closely, so it's not as if I have to look at it any closer,” Longmire said about trying to fix the Swans' slow starts.

“It's a bit of everything but when we get back to pretty basic footy and we get our pressure up, it's amazing what happens from that. It's very simple, but we've got to do it a bit earlier.”

The Dockers led by as much as 32 points early in the second term as Sean Darcy and Luke Jackson were on top in the ruck, while onballers Caleb Serong, Andrew Brayshaw and Matthew Johnson helped control the clearances.

The Swans' star-studded midfield was also contained, including with Dockers veteran Nat Fyfe going straight to Isaac Heeney from the opening bounce and keeping him in check until late in the game.

Heeney only had six disposals to the main break before finishing with 20, while Fyfe gathered 23 touches including an equal-game high eight clearances.

“‘Fyfey’ just wants to help us win. We gave him the role to monitor Heeney, especially around stoppage, he’s a bull in there, he leads their clearances across the year,” Dockers coach Justin Longmuir said.

“Fyfey put his hand up for that role and acquitted himself well. I thought he had some really good moments later in the game, where his age and experience really shone through in what were pretty chaotic moments.”