First win doesn't guarantee more: Longmire

Sydney coach John Longmire says the Swans need to be ferocious and uncompromising each week if they want to build on their first AFL win of the season.

Sydney coach John Longmire has warned the Swans long overdue first AFL win of the season doesn't automatically herald the start of a full scale revival.

Beaten in their first six games, Sydney climbed off the bottom of the ladder and dumped Brisbane there with a 54-point win over the Lions at the SCG on Sunday.

Sydney's trademark passion for the contest, which was sighted only sporadically in previous games, was evident over longer periods against Brisbane.

But with Sydney still unfavourably placed in 17th position and only above Brisbane on percentage, Longmire wasn't about to get too bullish about their season prospects.

'We had to start somewhere and we had to start with a win, but there's no guarantees with that either," Longmire said.

"You need to come up with that ferocious contest every week, and that attitude every week and an uncompromising attack on the ball.

"It's not going to happen just because we've won the first game, we've got to make it happen, not just hope."

Sydney's next assignment is against North Melbourne, who will go into the Etihad Stadium encounter off back-to-back wins after starting with five straight losses.

Longmire was pleased some of his recently maligned senior players bounced back to form against Brisbane.

Midfielder Luke Parker racked up a season-best 30 possessions and looked like his old combative self.

Parker, Dan Hannebery and Josh Kennedy, who got his first AFL win since being named captain, got strong midfield support from the younger Swans, particularly Zak Jones and Isaac Heeney.

Jones, arguably Sydney's best player this season, notched a career best 27 touches and displayed tremendous speed to create a memorable goal for himself.

Heeney had 22 touches against Brisbane as he again impressed in his third game back from glandular fever.

"He's back to pretty good fitness now, you can see the way he is playing," Longmire said of Heeney.

"He has a ruthless attitude about him and a couple of those younger boys today were really jumping on board with that."


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Source: AAP



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