THE SYDNEY Swans will not rest players for the sake of it against Richmond in round 23, according to coach John Longmire.
The Swans are assured of a top-two spot after their 63-point belting of the Western Bulldogs at Etihad Stadium on Sunday and will lock away the minor premiership with a win over the Tigers at ANZ Stadium next Saturday evening.
Despite the lure of winning the McClelland Trophy, the Swans have very little to play for next Saturday while the Tigers will be desperate to scrape into the finals.
However, Longmire doesn’t believe in giving players a week off to freshen up before September.
"I don't think there's too many teams that rest players," Longmire said after Sunday’s emphatic victory.
"We want to make sure we continue to play well. If players are sore though, we'd have to be silly to risk them.
"If they're sore they won't play but if they're ready to go and feeling good, players like to play."
In the final round of last season, Fremantle rested 12 players out of its first-picked side ahead of the round 23 clash against St Kilda.
The Dockers were comprehensively beaten by a lowly Saints team on that occasion, but then came out breathing fire against Geelong to knock the Cats off their perch in their gripping 15-point qualifying final win at Simonds Stadium.
Fremantle, of course, then went on to face-off against Hawthorn in the Grand Final, ultimately going down to the Hawks.
"That's a one-off; I don't think it happens too often," Longmire said of Dockers coach Ross Lyon's decision to rest players.
With Josh Kennedy (hamstring), Craig Bird (knee), Ben McGlynn (calf) and late-withdrawal Sam Reid (hip) still to come back into the side, the competition for spots is starting to really heat up.
Longmire was pleased with the efforts of a number of the club's fringe players, making particular note of Shane Biggs' effort in keeping Bulldogs captain Ryan Griffen to 16 disposals.
He also made mention of the performances of Dean Towers, Tom Mitchell and Harry Cunningham.
"It's important that if you lose a couple of players at any time during the year, and especially over the next few weeks, that you've got the confidence that those guys can come in and play," Longmire said.
The Swans coach said Kennedy, McGlynn and Reid were "huge chances" to play against Richmond next week having trained strongly earlier on Sunday.
But Longmire said the expectation was that Bird was likely to be out until the Swans' first final.
The win over the Bulldogs was the Swans' 17th victory of the season - the club's best return in its history which eclipses the 16 and a half wins it enjoyed in 1996.
