The cavalry could be about to return for Sydney, with coach John Longmire still bullish about his team's chances for the remainder of 2023.
Friday night's 16-point loss to Brisbane consigned the Swans to a second straight defeat and dropped them to a 5-8 win-loss record.
They are now two games outside the top eight with just 10 matches remaining and in danger of missing the finals.
But Longmire has hinted that some of the team's injured stars could be back as soon as next Saturday's match against West Coast at the SCG.
Callum Mills (calf), Isaac Heeney (nose), Logan McDonald (ankle) and Tom McCartin (concussion) all trained in Sydney on Friday.
"We'd love to get a few players back," Longmire said.
"Maybe (Lance) Franklin (knee) next week. They'd be a few handy ones.
"We have to manage that. We have to get that balance right.
"There's still a fair bit to play for. Get in next week and have a crack, back home and have a go again."
Longmire said his team got quite a bit right against the Lions – particularly its pressure and tackling – but was let down by a lack of discipline for a second straight week.
Brisbane kicked goals through Cam Rayner, Jarrod Berry and Oscar McInerney in the decisive second quarter - all due to free kicks.
Eric Hipwood also kicked one after a 50m penalty advanced the ball.
Then there was the downfield free kick conceded by Sam Wicks following his report for a late, high hit on Ryan Lester. And all this came within the same 20-minute span.
"It's our discipline," Longmire said.
"Our 50m against, our free kicks against … we've got to get that better than what we're doing.
"Last week we gave away three free kick goals in the second quarter as well.
"We play good for 70 or 80 minutes, but we're not playing that distance, the consistency.
"Whether that's free kick goals against or just doing the basics really well, we just need to do it better."
Longmire also said there was a lack of synergy in his revamped forward line that included debutant Jack Buller and recalled Joel Amartey.
Brisbane coach Chris Fagan was relieved to snap his team's two-game losing streak, saying they made hard work of the win.
The Lions dominated large periods of the contest, but kicked just 6.14 after half-time and could never really put the dogged Swans away.
"It was a frustrating game," Fagan said.
"No disrespect to Sydney, I felt like we should have won by a bit more than we did.
"It shouldn't have been a game we won by 16 points, it should have been more like a five- or six-goal win, particularly after quarter-time.
"I liked the fact we were down a couple of goals at quarter-time, after having had a bad loss last week, that we gathered ourselves and played pretty well from that point on."
Fagan was delighted with the performances of young players Keidean Coleman, Kai Lohmann and debutant Jaspa Fletcher who were all included for the game.
