Sydney coach John Longmire will look to young on-ballers Luke Parker and Craig Bird to fill the void left by injured veteran Jude Bolton in Saturday’s AFL clash with Collingwood at ANZ Stadium.

But Longmire disagrees Parker and Bird’s task will be any less taxing due to reigning Brownlow medallist Dane Swan’s club-imposed suspension.

“I heard (rumours about Swan’s ban) at match committee on Tuesday … (but) really it’s a reaction where you wait to hear if it’s confirmed or not, because there’s a lot of scuttlebutt that gets around,” Longmire said.

“When it was confirmed, we thought ‘he’s a really good player’ but then we looked at the match committee board and saw all the other really good players they’ve got.

“So the sense of relief just isn’t there, because you know it’s going to be a battle.”

Collingwood have recalled Alan Didak, Chris Tarrant and Marty Clarke for the weekend’s match, which pits the ladder-leading Swans against third-placed Collingwood, but it’s Dayne Beams that Longmire is expecting to stand up in Swan’s absence.

“If you look at the last time Dane Swan was out, Dayne Beams was averaging 34 possessions in those two games that he missed earlier this year,” he said.

“Beams took his game to another level, so he’s certainly one that’s stepped up previously when Swan’s been out.

“Then you got (Dale) Thomas, (Scott) Pendlebury, (Steele) Sidebottom – they’ve got a star midfield and that’s a big part of where the game will be won and lost.”

Sydney’s spread and stoppage work has been the envy of the league this season, and Longmire was upbeat it would continued without Bolton, who is expected to be sidelined until finals with a knee injury.

“Whether it’s inside the midfield on at half forward, they (Parker and Bird) are able to play those sort of roles,” he said.

“Hopefully those players will be able to cover the loss of Jude.”