But he said even the most inspired tactical and strategic decisions would count for nothing without Swans players ''putting the overalls on'' and working harder.

Tippett will play this week after recovering from knee tendonitis, either in the reserves or seniors. Weighing on the minds of the coaching staff will be the fact the key forward was able to slot into the side successfully after missing nearly the first three months of last season. However, balancing that will be advice from medical and conditioning staff, who might suggest Tippett be eased in more slowly.

''We’ll make those decisions based on what’s good for the team, but also what’s good for Kurt,'' Longmire said. ''We can’t let where we sit as far as our win-loss [goes] influence those decisions.''

It would be tempting to look for easy fixes. But there are none, the coach said.

Amid the fallout from the dismal loss to North Melbourne – the Swans’ third loss in an alarming opening month of the season – Longmire hit back at suggestions the inclusion of two ruckmen in the wet was a tactical error. He conceded the coaching staff was always looking to ''do things better'' but listed numerous areas in which most of the playing list was ''not up to scratch'', including contested football, clearance rates, tackles inside the forward 50 metres and overall consistency.

''Last year we played three wet games here at the SCG with two ruckmen and won all three,'' he said, responding to questions over playing Tom Derickx in soggy conditions.

''What can happen in the wet is you can get a lot of stoppages and actually two ruckmen is pretty useful. We’ve done it in the past and it worked for us and that’s why we did it on the weekend.

''It gets highlighted, obviously, when it doesn’t work – and it didn’t work out on the weekend. There is no denying that.''

However, he added, regardless of who was wearing the guernsey, with the same poor effort the result wouldn’t have changed.

''That’s the challenge for us, no matter who plays or what the structure is, we need to make sure we work hard. We need to work harder at all the things we pride ourselves on as a football team,'' he said.

''Those things we pride ourselves on we haven’t been good at. We take responsibility for that and we need to take responsibility for fixing it.''

Longmire said there was still a ''lot of faith'' in the senior players who were struggling for form but floated the idea of changes against the Dockers when he names his team on Thursday.

''That’s the balance, I guess – how long do we stick with them and give another week or two weeks or three weeks and hope their form turns around? Or at what time do you need to make those decisions?

''If we think on the weekend that we’ll go with a different structure, then that’s what we’ll do. We’ll certainly take the responsibility to make those decisions when we need to. But it’s always a collective. Whether it’s coaches or players, it’s never one or the other. It’s about how we can get better as a group. That’s what our review focuses on every week. Whether we’re sitting at the top of the ladder or trying to find some form, that’s what we’ll continue to focus on as a group of coaches and players. There’s no easy solution to it other than working really hard and getting the decisions right on and off the field.''

Longmire said Fremantle would serve as a good example to the Swans this week, having been thrashed by Hawthorn only to bounce back with a 53-point win over Essendon.