A PERPLEXED John Longmire has questioned the thinking behind the boos that accompanied Lance Franklin in Sydney's 29-point loss to Collingwood.

The Sydney coach was bemused at the section of Collingwood fans who booed Franklin's every touch, in the first time the Magpies have hosted the Swans at the MCG since Adam Goodes was racially abused in round nine, 2013.

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Superstar Franklin had 13 disposals, kicked a behind and didn't give away a single free kick.

"Charlie (Gardiner, head of footy) and I actually didn't know, we were on the bench and we don't sit back and sit there like a spectator, and didn't understand it," Longmire said.

"Why would they boo him? Why would you boo him?

"(You'd) probably celebrate a 36-year-old, wouldn't you, who's been a champion of the game? Why would you (boo)? It's been 10 years since we've played Collingwood here, why would you boo one of the champions of the game? It doesn't make sense to me."

Magpies coach Craig McRae was supportive of his counterpart and Franklin.

"I've said this before, I'm not a boo-er, we don't boo at home. You pay your money, you do whatever you want. I must admit I didn't hear it, I had my headset on, but we just don't boo," he said.

Longmire bemoaned the missed chances from his side, which kicked 6.12 to Collingwood's 11.11.

"I thought early days we just weren't executing. Our effort and intensity was really good, and then in the second quarter we started to execute some things. We missed some easy goals, we need to take the opportunities when we get them," Longmire said.

"I thought they got a bit of the ball in the third quarter, but I thought generally we were right in the hunt, and we were right where we wanted to be. 

"They got some easy goals in the last quarter, and whether it was structural, not getting the right player back on the ruckman on the line, or the key defender, basic stuff that we should get done. We lost a bit of momentum from the CBs (centre bounces), I think it was 1-4 from the CBs, and we lost ground position."

There looked to be a concerted plan to unsettle the skilful Nick Daicos, who played a half at half-back against a Ryan Clarke tag, before moving into the middle to finish with 25 touches.

Clarke booted an early goal before his celebration – directed at Daicos – quickly turned into a quasi-melee.

"Players wanted to be – last week we wanted to lift our contested ball up and pressure, and we wanted to get our contested ball and pressure up today. You have to have a level of emotion and investment in the game in order to execute the basic skills," Longmire said.

"I thought our players for a fair bit of the game, their intent was pretty right, just our execution let us down in those moments, and it's been a bit of a theme for us. 

"(I like it) as long as you don't give away any free kicks. And we gave away a couple of free kicks."

McRae was pleased with the way Daicos' teammates supported the 20-year-old, and how the young star responded.

"I haven't asked him about (the extra attention), to be honest. I think it's a natural part of any good player in the competition, you go back in time, every good player has had to go through this, and some have had to do it for longer," he said.

"This is his lot, right now. He's a second-year player going really well, and opposition want to take that away. I was really pleased with his last quarter, he had 10 possessions, went into the midfield and did his thing. He's a hard player to stop."

Collingwood sits on top of the ladder a third of the way through the season with seven wins from eight games, and McRae is happy with how the team is handling the increased pressure from opponents.

"I just mentioned after the game, the ability to adapt and evolve our gameplan, on the run – you get to round eight, and the opposition are looking at what you're doing well, they try to take that away," he said.

"Then they find opportunities to exploit you where it looks like what it looks like. We're the same, but on a day like today, against really good opposition, just to find a way, was really pleasing. 

"Like the last two or three games, our pressure in the last quarter just goes to another level. Teams right now are struggling with that."