Following on from a 34-point defeat at the hands of neighbour Shepparton in round 15, the Princess Park outfit will be hoping to bounce back at the first time of asking on August 8 versus Rochester.
Currently, the side in the red and white resides in seventh place in the standings, meaning qualification for the finals remains very much in the balance in the last three games of the term.
Of course, only a top-six berth will earn the Swans passage to the finals - with home and away clashes against Rochy in rounds 16 and 18 interspersed with a trip to face third-placed Seymour in the penultimate clash of the campaign.
Currently two points adrift of Mooroopna in the last available finals spot, Swans coach Sullivan is firmly of the belief that his side cannot rely on the surrounding teams to do them any favours in the race.
Instead, the former Nagambie helmsman has implored his players to seize the initiative over the course of the next three games, laying out the objective of a faultless end to the season.
“We’ve just got to win pretty much the last three,” Sullivan said.
“The objective is pretty simple for us now, if we win two of the three, then we’ll probably need to wait on other games to see how they unfold.
“Otherwise it’s pretty much curtains for us, so it’s a simple scenario for us.”
While Sullivan judged the overall performance from his side against the Bears as “pretty good” last time out, he will be all too aware of the threat posed Rochester - with the Tigers having been grand finalists last year.
After slumping to four losses in their opening seven games at the start of 2026, Rochy have rallied back to put together a run of seven wins and just a couple of losses since then to reach fifth place in the standings.
As for Seymour, who the Swans will face in round 17, they have also performed consistently well over the course of the campaign, sitting in third after ten wins and five losses this term.
However, those within the Swans camp may well be buoyed by the Lions’ shock defeat away at Euroa last time out, as they look ahead to another trip on the road to face second-placed Echuca in week 17.
In the reverse fixture at Princess Park back in round six, the Swans defeated Seymour by eight points, with Kade Anderson hitting the scoreboard four times en route to victory.
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