John Longmire's 'falling out' with Sydney Swans star revealed amid decision to step down

John Longmire and Luke Parker have both made big off-season announcements at the Sydney Swans, and details surrounding their relationship have come to light after the news. Veteran coach Longmire surprised Sydney Swans fans after announcing he would be stepping down immediately having taken over the head role in 2011.

Longmire won a premiership and made the AFL finals 12 times during his time as head coach. His news comes as a blow to the current players who made the grand final last year, only to be defeated by the Brisbane Lions in a disappointing showing.

Not long after the AFL grand final, fan favourite Parker announced he would be leaving to join North Melbourne after 293 games at the club. Parker won two premierships during his time at the Swans and managed to kick three goals in their loss to the Lions in the 2024 grand final.

But following Longmire's announcement, which will see him move into a back room role, a report from Tom Morris has claimed the duo's relationship wasn't the same as it was to start 2024. "I don't believe he lost the players, I don't believe he lost the club. I still believe he could have coached next year if he had have wanted to," Morris said on SEN Radio. "My understanding is he lost that passion after the season.

"There was also a falling out with Luke Parker. How big that falling out is depends on who you speak to. My understanding is Luke Parker left for a number of reasons. And one of those reasons was that him and John Longmire were not on the terms they had been over the course of his career...regardless of that, the players loved John Longmire."

Parker started the 2024 season in the VFL due to his shoulder injury and Longmire did not rush to bring him back into the squad. Parker could have been on the fringes of the starting team in 2025 if he had stayed in Sydney, which could have also seen him seek the trade to North Melbourne.

John Longmire explains Sydney Swans decision

Longmire's decision took many by surprise on Tuesday and the coach admitted he didn't even know his own decision after the grand final. Speaking at a press conference, Longmire admitted it took him a bit of time to come to the conclusion he needed a break.

"I didn't know at that point," he said. "Sometimes you just need a bit of time to work it out. My last game as a player was a premiership, and I pulled the pin after that. I didn't know whether that'd be my last game or not. I wasn't 100 per cent sure.

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"All I know was that halfway through the year, and even before that, I was talking to Tom and Andrew about it. I just felt like I needed to stop and rest and reset and regenerate. And it's very hard to do that when you're coaching and so I didn't know at that particular point in time. The decision to go forward for this footy club was really important so I needed to make the right call."

The coach admitted even if the Swans had won the AFL grand final, it wouldn't have changed too much in his decision. Dean Cox will now take over as the Swans coach and look to take them one step further than this year.