SYDNEY Swans coach John Longmire has shot down any talk of resting key players for the club's round 23 clash with Gold Coast on Saturday night at the SCG.
Both Fremantle and North Melbourne will leave a host of personnel on the sidelines for their last game of the home and away season this week, but the Swans won't be following suit.
Longmire's men need to beat the Suns to make sure they finish in fourth spot to gain the double chance, and the coach says he won't be tinkering with his line-up despite the Swans going into the game as heavy favourites.
"We're in a situation where we can control our own destiny," Longmire said on Thursday morning.
"That’s our priority right now is to finish off on a really strong note and that’s what we'll be trying to do.
"Our players are the ones who are really driving that, particularly our senior group who are really keen to play a strong brand of football this week.
"That’s been real positive, as a coach it's good you look at your preparation every day, your training program, your meetings, they're fully tuned into that, and they're fully tuned into finishing the (regular) season off this week."
Longmire pointed out that superstar Lance Franklin (back) and fellow forward Gary Rohan (hamstring/knee) are in desperate need for ground time after missing multiple games through injury in recent weeks.
Ben McGlynn (hamstring) is another who is after big minutes – be it at AFL or NEAFL level – in a bid to regain his spot in the senior side in time to play a part in the finals.
Longmire said the former Hawk is still definitely a part of the Swans' best 22, despite his injury-interrupted season.
"We know he's naturally one of our fittest players anyway but what we've got to be mindful about what's best for him, and it's not just about this week," Longmire said.
"We'd like to get him in the team but he's had a pretty limited preparation and we (need) to make sure that when he's ready to go he is absolutely cherry ripe."
Defender Nick Smith has already been ruled out of the Suns clash after slightly injuring his hamstring against St Kilda last week, and seems likely to miss the Swans' first final as well.
Smith joined star midfielder Luke Parker for some touch work away from the main group at the SCG, with Longmire staggered by Parker's recovery from a broken lower leg.
The reigning club champion has discarded his moon-boot and had a compression sock on his injured right leg during a light handball drill, and will start a running program on Friday.
The coach sees no reason why Parker won't make it back onto the field in 2015, but he's got no expectations.
"He's almost bouncing past my office, he's a pretty resilient character, he's got incredible strength of mind, and he's incredibly tough, two important mixes if you're going to be a successful AFL player," Longmire said.
"He's in really good shape, so he hasn't missed too much and he's feeling really confident about the state of his leg so that's a good sign."
