Sydney coach John Longmire wants the Swans to improve their judgement when they move into attack mode after they slumped to successive losses for the first time since round two last season.
Last week’s 14-point loss to Fremantle in Perth was followed by their first SCG defeat in over 12 months, as Western Bulldogs eked out a four-point win at a wet SCG on Saturday.
The close losses have taken the shine off a 3-0 start to the season.
Longmire lamented costly turnovers in their own half and a poor return of just 2.5 from 19 first quarter inside 50 entries.
Even experienced players made errors and Longmire attributed the mistakes to poor decision making and execution.
“There was a 40-point differential on turnovers and in any conditions that’s tough but particularly in wet conditions,” Longmire said.
“We made some basic errors that they were able to turn into goals.
“We need to make sure that we need to get the balance right when to attack and we’ve still got to do that.”
His three tall forwards combined for seven goals, with Lance Franklin kicking a match-high three and Kurt Tippett and Adam Goodes two each.
Longmire was non-committal about the performance of Goodes, who tallied 12 touches in his first game back in the senior side after two games in the reserves.
“He kicked two goals, I’ll have to sit down and take a look at it in a bit more detail,” Longmire said.
Among the positives for Sydney was another excellent early season effort from Dan Hannebery, who accumulated 37 possessions, 59 hitouts for ruckman Mike Pyke, and 30 touches for midfielder Tom Mitchell in his first senior outing this year.
Longmire expected Sam Reid would be fit for next Saturday’s game against Melbourne at the SCG, after the swingman was ruled out of the Bulldogs clash with a sore calf.