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Sydney coach John Longmire says he won’t follow up on two costly 50m penalties in the Swans’ narrow loss to Hawthorn, but has questioned the game’s uneven free-kick count.
Longmire’s side coughed up two goals during Thursday night’s five-point defeat at the SCG after Kieren Jack and Ben McGlynn were penalised for entering the protected zone.
The close calls led to Jonathan O’Rourke scoring just before three-quarter time and Jonathon Ceglar slotting during a dramatic final quarter.
“I don’t know, ask the umpires, I really don’t know to be honest,” said Longmire, who won’t seek clarification from the AFL’s umpiring department.
“No, I won’t worry about it.
“I’ll worry about what I can control.”
The coach, however, also expressed concern over the game’s lopsided free-kick tally, which finished at 15-9 to the Hawks but had been more lopsided earlier.
“Obviously we were undisciplined because the free-kick count was 3-13 at three-quarter time,” Longmire said.
“I don’t think I’ve seen a differential like that for quite a while.
“We’ll have to get better at our discipline, clearly, because that’s a big differential.”
Hawthorn coach Alastair Clarkson found the umpiring to be “pretty strong” but observed the obvious challenge with the 50m rule lay in the consistency of its interpretation.
Longmire was miffed to have come off second best in another close encounter, having lost by four points to the Western Bulldogs a fortnight ago.
In both games the Swans had a chance to go top, but could now end up as low as seventh by the end of this round.
But Longmire insisted it wouldn’t derail his side’s season.
“We win and we’re on top of the ladder, so I’m still pretty confident with the year we’ve got,” he said.
“We’ve made some giant steps forward and we’ve still got a fair bit of footy to play this year.”
Sydney will wait to learn the extent of Zak Jones’ ankle injury after the defender was carried from the field with a leg injury in the final term.
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