Last week, the Swans went goalless during the second and third quarters at Docklands on their way to a disappointing 15-point round one loss to St Kilda.
And Goodes admitted that he was well below his best.
“I went one to one with [Brendon] Goddard on the weekend and he definitely got the better of me,” Goodes said before training at the SCG on Tuesday.
“He had more of a positive impact on his team than I did on mine, so I’ll be looking forward to bouncing back this week and playing a really good role for the team.”
Goodes said Swans had not been able to match the Saints intensity and pressure after quarter time last week.
But he took heart from their strong performances in the first and last quarters, which produced football that coach Paul Roos labelled the best he’d seen in recent years.
“We did start really well and the disappointing thing for the first quarter and for the second half of the last quarter [was that] we really did outplay St Kilda,” Goodes said.
“[But] for those second and third quarters, they outplayed us and got that far in front that we weren’t able to chase them down. That’s what’s disappointing – it probably was one of those games that did slip away.
“Overall as a team, we just need to get better and notice when we’re not playing up to the same level that the opposition is and just try to swing the momentum.
“They had the momentum for two quarters there and we really didn’t change too much out on the ground. We just kept kicking it down the line, kept bombing it into our forwards when they were heavily outnumbered.”
Despite the Hawks’ eight-point loss to Geelong on Friday night, the reigning premier showed some ominous signs in a scintillating six-goal final quarter.
Having watched only the first half of the game, Goodes missed the final-quarter rally but he said he’d seen enough to be wary of Saturday night’s opposition.
“They were very impressive, particularly with the kids they’ve got playing at the moment. They’re still a fantastic team, to play the way they did,” Goodes said.
“It just show you that their game plan holds up, no matter who’s in the team and they’re going to be very tough to beat on Saturday night.”
