SYDNEY coach Scott Gowans lamented another slow start, with his Swans side this time unable to dig itself out of the hole like it has the past two weeks. Instead, the visiting side went goalless up until the seven minute mark of the fourth term, and went down by 26 points in what he described as a “really poor” performance.

“Collingwood played very well today, full credit to them,” Gowans said. “They came out with a very strong gameplan and it took us a while to get into the game, too long to get into the game, and once we were in the game, the game was gone.

“But we also had a really poor game today and we have to improve. Such a short season, you can’t have two or three weeks like that, so we’ve got a lot to work on. Just got a little reminder how hard this competition is. Collingwood were good in different areas of the game.”

Collingwood dominated possession with 57 more disposals, as well as winning both the contested possession (plus-20) and uncontested possession (plus-48) counts. The Magpies also smacked Sydney in the clearances (27-16) but the Swans still managed to have 10 more inside 50s.

“I thought their ability just to not let us have the ball was really important,” Gowans said. “They beat us in clearance quite well which is something we’ve just got to work on and get better.”

Sydney did kick a couple of goals in the last term to reduce the final margin which pleased Gowans, but it was all too little, too late.

“I think they ability to stick at it in the last quarter and just have a throw at the stumps was really important and in the past we probably would have fallen away and lost that game by 60 points,” he said. “That was a positive I suppose if you can take a positive out of a game like that. “We’re bitterly disappointed in that performance, that’s not us. “We don’t want to go back to where we’ve come from.”

When asked what he could do to improve, Gowans said they could start by “just turning up” and starting strongly which would make life easier. He conceded the Pies’ pressure was good, but it just took the Swans too long to get their game going.

“We seem to be reactive to the game state so that’s something we’re going to train really heavily this week just to get us going and we might try a couple of different things and maybe with ball movement or just some energisers to get the game on our terms first,” he said. “If you can hold on while a side’s pressuring you and the scoreboard’s even it’s not as bad as chasing your butt on the scoreboard and on the field.”

At the end of the day, the Swans still sit 4-1 and entrenched in the top five, with a number of key rivals including Melbourne and Hawthorn suffering losses. Gowans said his side would look to get back to what it has shown in past weeks, and while it is frustrating, he would quickly refocus for the Battle of the Bridge against GWS Giants in Round 6.

“We’re just learning, we’re a young side I’ve got to remember that and we’re going to have ups and downs along the way,” he said. “But our goals don’t change, nothing changes other than we got a good reminder of how even this competition is and next week the start of the game is huge.”