SYDNEY Swans coach John Longmire is hopeful the prospect of continued success will keep his A-list playing group together as salary cap pressures inevitably start to mount.
The Swans have gradually rebuilt their squad in recent years into a unit that claimed the 2012 premiership, reached a preliminary final last year and is tipped to again be right among the contenders in 2014.
But the additions of Kurt Tippett and Lance Franklin in the past two seasons have added pressure to a salary cap already juggling a number of elite players.
The Swans have so far done an excellent job retaining their blue-chip stocks, with All Australians Josh Kennedy, Kieren Jack and Dan Hannebery, plus talented youngsters Gary Rohan, Sam Reid and Luke Parker, all locked into long-term deals.
Jarrad McVeigh, Lewis Jetta, Heath Grundy and Dane Rampe are contracted until the end of 2015, while the only premiership player to be squeezed out so far has been ruckman Shane Mumford, who crossed to GWS.
Yet the decision to remove the Swans' 9.8 per cent cost of living allowance can only put more pressure on their salary cap.
If players like Tom Mitchell, Alex Johnson and Harry Cunningham continue to blossom, it will surely create more headaches for the club as it attempts to balance the books.
If the Swans are to remain among the frontrunners in the competition, some of their best players may have to follow the lead set by Geelong in recent years and take less money than they could get elsewhere to stay together.
"Our players want to be in the finals," Longmire told AFL.com.au.
"They want to stay competitive, they love being competitive, and they love playing in the games at the business end of the season.
"They also realise it's not an easy thing to do and whether it's keeping the players we've got or attracting players, those decisions are made to try to keep us competitive.
"That's what our playing group wants to do and it's just so difficult to keep doing, but that doesn't mean you stop trying.
"Hopefully our players want to keep doing that as long as possible."
The retirements of Jude Bolton, Marty Mattner and Mitch Morton, plus the departures of Jesse White, Tony Armstrong, Jed Lamb and Andrejs Everitt, gave the Swans the room to add Franklin to their list.
Veterans Adam Goodes, Nick Malceski, Lewis Roberts-Thomson and Ryan O'Keefe are the only Swans on the AFL's unrestricted free agent list, while it's understood Craig Bird and Mike Pyke are off contract at season's end.
Longmire is content right now that the right moves are being made to keep the nucleus of the side intact.
"We feel as though we've got a really good group of players and the list evolves all the time," he said.
"It changes so quickly. If you look at the players on our list now compared to 2009, it's almost a completely different list.
"Things change so quickly in AFL footy, but we're fortunate that a lot of our core players are committed.
"(Football manager) Dean Moore has done a fantastic job doing that and Kinnear Beatson is a terrific recruiting manager and looks after our list strategy.
"From that perspective we're fortunate, but it's always a challenge and we've always got to maintain the focus on keeping the players we want to keep and keep attracting talent."
One query remains what impact losing COLA could have on the Swans' list post-2014.
The AFL Commission announced last week COLA would be phased out, but it is yet to be determined when that will happen and whether the Swans will retain some sort of allowance in a different, reduced form.
The AFL has committed to tabling any potential new allowance by mid-year and Longmire admits the Swans are in the dark about its repercussions.
"No one knows," he said. "It hasn't been determined yet.
"(The AFL have) certainly looked upon what else it could involve and they're yet to work that out.
"The reality is we're sitting here at the moment waiting to hear.
"It won't be the same as it was, but there will be something worked out down the track as far as what they think the right situation will be in regards to what the players get.
"What that will be, we're not sure."
