COACH John Longmire was reluctant to rate just how bad the Sydney Swans' loss was to North Melbourne on Sunday, but there is no doubt alarm bells are now ringing in the Harbour City.
Longmire has overseen an incredibly successful three years in charge of the Swans, with fans becoming accustomed to both a consistent level of performance and regular success.
But their terribly disappointing 43-point defeat to North Melbourne on Sunday leaves them with one win through four rounds and already in a significant hole so early in the year.
Determined to put on a show in their first game at the SCG for 2014, instead it was the Roos that looked like top-four contenders, drilling six goals to two in the final term to hand the Swans their worst loss at the ground in three years.
Never one for alarmist sound bites, Longmire wouldn't say if this was the most disappointing performance in his time at the helm, but was clearly frustrated by some simple skill errors.
"I'm not going to categorise it," he said afterwards. "It was a bad performance. We didn't play well.
"We were scored against too easily and just the basics, the amount of times the ball slipped over the back in those conditions.
"It's one of the things you learn as a kid coming through, you don't let the ball over the back in wet conditions, and we let the ball over the back too many times and got scored against too easily.
"The energy we showed in the midfield was variable at times and it can't be variable, it has to be constant."
Shortly after the game, Longmire had trouble when asked if any Swans could hold their heads high, ultimately opting for just Josh Kennedy and Ben McGlynn.
What made it more disappointing for the coach was the fact his side had appeared to turn the corner in last week's 10-goal win over Adelaide.
"What you can't do in this game is do what we did last week, and then come today with that," Longmire said.
"You need to be more consistent in your efforts, both through the course of the game and from week-to-week.
"That's what the best teams are able to do. They put in one good performance and then back it up again and again and again.
"That's not what we're doing at the moment."
Following a strong four-goal performance against the Crows, Lance Franklin was well beaten by Scott Thompson on Sunday, held to just one behind.
He was also reported for striking Thompson in the fourth quarter, although the prevailing view was he had little to worry about.
There could be some help on the way, with Longmire revealing the club had contemplated playing Kurt Tippett in the reserves on Sunday as he nears a return from persistent knee tendinitis.
But Longmire said Tippett would only be used next week if he has fully recovered, and not in a response to the Swans' issues up front.
Their next assignment is a showdown with Fremantle at the SCG and another loss would spell disaster for one of this year's initial flag favourites.
"We come back here to play one of the real quality teams in the competition next week," Longmire said.
"That's what's in front of us.
"We'll be doing everything we can to be as competitive as we can and determined to put on a better performance than what we put on today."
While the signs are concerning for the Swans, they at least found some support in the form of North Melbourne coach Brad Scott.
"We are really aware that the Swans are going to look quite different in the not-too-distant future," Scott said.
"When you have Sam Reid running around and Adam Goodes and Kurt Tippett, they are some pretty good players.
"They are going to be up there again. They are going to beat some really good sides."
