'Disappointed' Swans hit back after damning vision

Sydney coach John Longmire was “disappointed” to see the Sam Wicks issue rear its head again this week, claiming the club has “moved on” from the saga which threatened to divide the playing group earlier this month.

Wicks was temporarily removed from club duties after an alleged confrontation with teammates during a drinking session.

The 24-year-old was accused of acting inappropriately towards one teammate’s former girlfriend, but a Swans investigation found he had done nothing wrong.

Wicks has since been reinstated and has kicked two goals in each game for the Swans since returning to the line-up.

But the lingering tensions were aired again on Monday when vision emerged of Wicks being ignored by teammates after kicking a goal against Hawthorn on Sunday.

Swans coach John Longmire reacted to reports over Sam Wicks.

It was his second goal for the game and while he received some high-fives after his first major, his second one received no recognition whatsoever on the field, despite Wicks running about 60 metres up the ground to get a drink alongside several teammates immediately afterwards.

Caroline Wilson revealed on Nine’s Footy Classified the Swans were “filthy” at the vision being turned into a story, and Longmire confirmed as much when fronting media on Tuesday.

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“I was disappointed, the club was disappointed in the report from a long-time football journalist,” Longmire said, referencing the Herald Sun specifically.

“In the end Chad Warner kicked a goal in similar circumstances and no one got around him.

“We’ve been focused on celebrating the players that cause the goal, rather than the outcome.

“I just think looking at that one isolated incident was a bit unfair.”

On Monday night, Wilson suggested some tensions remain within the Swans ranks, claiming “I think that Wicks probably has a lot of work to do, others have a bit of work to do”.

Whether or not there’s truth to that, Longmire believes the club and players are handling the situation well.

“All I can say with Sam is I think it’s going OK,” he said.

“He has played a valuable role in our team the last couple of weeks, and from a team perspective we dealt with that a month ago and we’ve all moved on.

“I think that’s fairly obvious to most people.

“We’ve all moved on, it was a month ago.”

The Swans host the Giants in the Sydney derby on Saturday.