John Longmire is not the sort of coach to gift games, but even if he wanted to ring the changes after one of Sydney's most shocking AFL losses it will be tough given the club's injury crisis has intensified yet again.
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The Swans' campaign, which hit a horrible low during last Saturday's 24-point defeat to Gold Coast, has been hampered by a series of serious setbacks to key personnel.
Kieren Jack is an outside chance of returning from a knee injury against Essendon at Etihad Stadium on Friday night, but Jarrad McVeigh, Sam Reid, Dan Hannebery, Callum Mills, Lewis Melican and Sam Naismith all remain unavailable.
The situation became worse on the weekend, with speedster Gary Rohan undergoing an operation after breaking his hand in the reserves.
Youngsters Ryley Stoddart and James Bell were also knocked out in the NEAFL, ruining their hopes of a call-up.
It makes it a lot harder for Longmire to make wholesale changes.
Despite the lack of experience in the team, Longmire wouldn't even guarantee Heath Grundy a recall after the veteran defender's first stint in the reserves since 2008.
Grundy, an automatic selection for the bulk of his 252-game AFL career, was rested from Sydney's epic win over North Melbourne and left on the sidelines against the Suns.
"He's in contention again this week, but we haven't had a chance to sit down and look at the Bombers in real detail," Longmire told reporters on Monday.
"He had a couple of quiet games before we rested him ... it was that and match-ups.
"You just need to balance things out and make sure you take a calculated approach into what the best team is.
"We were very, very disappointed with how we played."
Jack has recovered from the medial ligament strain he suffered earlier this month, but the Swans will be wary of rushing the 31-year-old back on limited preparation.
"Kieren's not over the line just yet, we'll have to see how he trains on Wednesday," Longmire said.
Sydney sit fourth, but a congested ladder means they could tumble out of the top eight by the end of round 19.
The biggest AFL upset since 1995, according to betting markets, resulted in some stern conversations at the SCG on Monday. Much of it was led by the leaders.
"They drive the group fairly hard and we need to bounce back this week," Longmire said.
"They don't often put in average performances.
"There's some technical things we can get better at, but the emotional side of it we also didn't get right."
Australian Associated Press
