Sydney coach John Longmire has issued a strong response to Damien Hardwick’s criticism of the Swans after Sunday night’s dour contest at the Gabba.
Hardwick labelled the game “horrendous” and said the Swans were “no chance of scoring” in what was the second lowest-scoring match in the AFL era.
The two-time premiership Tigers coach was critical of the way Sydney set up behind the ball.
“There’s not much I can do. We’re attacking, and we’ve got 75,000 people in our forward 50, so it’s pretty hard,” a frustrated Hardwick told reporters.
Longmire expressed his disappointment at Hardwick’s post-game thoughts.
“The comments after the game from Damien were completely unnecessary and unwarranted. They just weren't correct,” Longmire told reporters on Monday.
“We didn't play an extra defender. Richmond bring a player up around the ball and have been doing it for a long time. We just held our six defenders in place.
“If Damien didn't want to do that, he could have brought his forward back in and just played 6-6-6 and the issue would have been done.
“I'm not sure it's my role to walk up to Damien's coaches box, knock on the door and say, 'What would you like us to do?' That's how it happened.”
Sydney’s final score of 3.8.(26) against the Tigers was their lowest under Longmire.