SYDNEY won't lose perspective after its loss to Richmond despite the increasingly tight race at the top of the ladder, coach John Longmire says.

The Swans entered Thursday night's game second on the ladder and equal with Richmond on 10 wins.

But their 26-point loss not only saw them slip a game behind Richmond, it also was enough for them to fall to third on percentage behind West Coast, which has a chance to join the Tigers on 11-3 against Adelaide at the Adelaide Oval on Saturday.

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Collingwood and Port Adelaide will join Sydney on 10-4 by the end of round 15 if they can, as expected, beat Gold Coast and Carlton respectively.

Longmire was asked after Thursday night's loss how significant a blow it was to the Swans' hopes of a top-two finish and a home qualifying final.

The Swans coach suggested no one at the club was close to hitting the panic button just yet.

"We were a kick down at the 10-minute mark of the last quarter, so we'll put it into perspective," Longmire said.

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"We would have liked to have won, no doubt about that. But we'll put it in perspective as we normally do and weigh up the good and bad and see what we can do better next time."

Longmire was disappointed with the five unanswered goals Richmond scored to end the first quarter after his team had kicked three of the first four goals, and equally with the goals the Tigers scored off Swans turnovers.

But the Sydney coach found positives in his team's performance.

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"I thought our intent and our tackle pressure was pretty good," he said.

Sydney won the clearances 39-31 on the back of strong performances from captain Josh Kennedy and George Hewett, while they also led the tackle count 83-67.

Lance Franklin waged an entertaining battle with Alex Rance, his four goals giving him a points victory over the Richmond star.

However, Franklin is likely to face MRO scrutiny for a third-quarter incident in which he shoved Rance in the neck with an open palm.

Longmire said he had no concerns about the incident other than the fact it had resulted in a free kick being paid to Rance, which meant Callum Sinclair, who had marked about 30m from the Swans' goal, could not take a set shot.

"I was hoping a goal would be kicked, obviously that was my main concern," Longmire said.

"I'll chat to him during the week as I normally do. At the moment I've got a few other things going through my mind."