SYDNEY coach John Longmire has laughed off any talk about his side's finals chances despite recording an eighth win from their last nine games on Saturday.
The Swans overcame a spirited start from the Suns to kick 13 goals to two after the first break, maintaining their impressive form after a disastrous 0-6 start to the season.
Despite their run of quality footy and outstanding results however, Longmire said he's not paying any attention to the ladder, or what his team might be able to achieve this year.
"Do you think I'm a dreamer?" he said with a laugh post-match.
"No, I'm all about going back to work and working out what we did well and what we need to get better at."
Five talking points: Sydney v Gold Coast
Part of the reason the Swans struggled early in the season was the absence of key defender Dane Rampe, and he showed just how badly he was missed with a dominant display against Gold Coast co-captain Tom Lynch.
Lynch booted three goals in the opening term but was starved of the footy after that, with Rampe taking 13 marks in defence, and finishing with 25 possessions for the night.
"I'm not sure he kicked them all on Dane in the first quarter I'll have to go back and take a look, but he was fantastic after then," he said.
"You've got to respect Lynch he's one of the best forwards in the competition, but what you know is that Dane is an incredible competitor.
"There's no secret that when he's out of the side, we've got to make sure that we play a really strong brand of footy, because you know his brand of footy is of a high standard every week.
"He's a massive competitor and that's why he's one of the best defenders in the comp."
WATCH John Longmire's full post-match press conference
Speedy forward Gary Rohan was another absentee when Sydney went winless for the first six games, and also showed how important he is to the team's forward structure with five goals against the Suns.
Rohan kicked four majors in the first half alone, finished the night with nine marks – second only to Rampe for the home side - and eight inside 50s.
"It was great, fantastic (to see)," Longmire said.
"His pressure and his clean ball handling was of an incredibly high level so it was great to see him play that kind of footy.
"He's very hard to contain when he's running around like that because of his speed and his hardness, but he was also really composed tonight, and that made the reward for his efforts so much greater."
Captain Josh Kennedy was a late withdrawal from the Suns clash with a tight quad, but Longmire expected him, along with Zak Jones (corked thigh) to be right for next week's Sydney Derby against the Giants at Spotless Stadium.
