Matthew Lloyd fears John Longmire's legacy could be tarnished without second premiership

Matthew Lloyd is wondering whether Sydney coach John Longmire's legacy needs a second premiership to cement him amongst the best leaders of the modern era.

Longmire, who has coached the Swans since 2011, winning one flag and losing grand finals during his time at the helm, is arguably one of the greats.

But Lloyd thinks it's now or never to win that elusive second flag.

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"Someone described him recently to me as the Craig Bellamy (Melbourne Storm NRL coach) of the AFL," Lloyd said on Nine's Footy Classified on Wednesday night.

"But Craig's got more premierships to show than John Longmire."

And without another flag to show, Lloyd fears Longmire's record, which has seen the Swans make the final every year bar one during his tenure, could be forgotten.

"I think if John was to finish his coaching career, we'd say, 'he was a very, very good coach, but he's only got one premiership to show for it'," he said.

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"He keeps getting them to grand finals. I remember Chris Scott (Geelong) got his second (in 2022)."

With their star-studded midfield, which singlehandedly demolished GWS in just one quarter in their qualifying final, Lloyd says the Swans are peaking at just the right time.

"I look at the players he's now got at his disposal. Two years ago, we used to ask the question, were they not ready for it?" Lloyd said.

"They all said, 'we were ready'. The stars they've got, (Isaac) Heeney, (Nick) Blakey, (Chad) Warner, (Errol) Gulden.

"If they can get past Port Adelaide, they're ready to go."

Lloyd reflected on how fickle the chance to win premierships are, going back to his undefeated Bombers side of 2000, who were quickly overtaken a year later by the up-and-coming Brisbane, who went on to win three flags in as many years.

"With this group of players, you've got to strike while it's hot there," he said.

"I remember with our group, we thought we had a good group. But then (Brisbane players) Michael Voss, Simon Black, Jason Akermanis, (Jonathan) Brown, (Justin) Leppitsch. You never know who is around the corner."

Sydney face off against Port Adelaide on Friday night at the SCG, with the winner progressing to the grand final.