Sydney coach John Longmire has read his team the riot act, accusing his players of "picking and choosing" when to play their trademark two-way style, as the Swans were rocked by injuries and suspension on Monday.
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As the fallout continues from Saturday night's horror show against Hawthorn, it emerged the Swans will be without Kurt Tippett, Craig Bird - both to injuries - and the suspended Ted Richards, for the trip to Perth to take on the red-hot West Coast this weekend.
The setbacks have come at a terrible time for the Swans, whose premiership credentials have taken a hammering. And it could get worse - they are at risk of being tipped out of the top four if they leave the Eagles' Subiaco fortress without the points.
Forced to give up several fringe players following the big-name signings of Tippett and Lance Franklin, the Swans now face a big test of their depth in the coming month.
Tippett is likely to miss three weeks after having a plate inserted to repair a broken hand, while premiership midfielder Bird could be sidelined for up to four weeks with a "reasonable-sized" calf strain.
Tippett, who signed a lucrative four-year contract in 2013, has come under intense scrutiny for his moderate form this season but the Swans feel the criticism of his game against the Hawks, in which he had eight possessions and was goalless, was harsh. They believe he did well just to play out the match after breaking his hand in the second quarter.
"I'm not giving up an alibi, he broke his hand," Longmire said. "He did really well, the doctor said he would've subbed him at half-time if there was a player available. The doc just told me today at our medical meeting he did a good job to play out the game."
The Swans were delivered another blow by the AFL's match review panel with All Australian defender Richards rubbed out for a week for rough conduct on Sam Mitchell.
The absence of Tippett and Richards has left the Swans' match committee with a major headache heading into the clash with the Eagles, who are shooting for a sixth-straight win.
Richards had been earmarked for the job on Coleman Medal leader Josh Kennedy. His suspension means Sam Reid is now likely to be required in defence, although the Swans would also love to have his high marking at their disposal in attack to fill the void left by Tippett.
Tippett's injury means there is now added urgency in getting ruckman Mike Pyke fit otherwise two-gamer Toby Nankervis will be forced to shoulder the bulk of the ruck duties against the dynamic Nic Naitanui.
Pyke, who has missed two of the past four games due to an ongoing knee injury, needs to train strongly on Wednesday in order to make the trip west.
Gun youngster Isaac Heeney is set to return while underrated backman Jeremy Laidler is in the frame to return from an ankle injury.
An angry Longmire gave his team a rare public bake for their capitulation, questioning the Swans' efforts and labelling their form this year as inconsistent despite an 11-4 record.
He said their defensive pressure against the Hawks, who piled on 23 goals, was ineffective, and also criticised his back six for losing too many key one-on-one battles.
"We've got a decision to make. Do we want to play really good consistent team football both sides of the ball or don't we?" Longmire said.
"At the moment we're picking and choosing a little bit when we make those decisions. It's been the case for the majority of the year."
The Swans have lost to Richmond and Hawthorn in the past four weeks, and their win against bottom team Brisbane a fortnight ago was far from impressive.
"Our big challenge is to decide to play that two-way football we've been consistently been able to display for a long time," Longmire said.
"When we've done it this year we've been able to have strong results, when we haven't we've left the result in doubt or left it to a bit of luck. You can't afford to do that in modern footy."
