Criticism came from all corners, including Sydney coach John Longmire who labelled the performance as "utterly unacceptable", but two-time North Melbourne premiership player David King was particularly scathing.

Media commentator King claimed the Swans were distracted by personal gains like the Brownlow medal and an All-Australian nod over team success.

"I'm aware of the comments but you can dismiss them completely," Rowbottom said on Wednesday.

"I know that the boys, they're all playing for the team and will continue to do so.

"That's what's put us in the position (as league leaders) that we're in at the moment, and that's what hopefully gets us out of this form.

"Every team this year had their own form slumps throughout the year, and at the moment we're experiencing one of our own.

"I don't think that's anything to look into."

Longmire also defended his players from the same criticism earlier in the week.

"I'm confident that our playing group know that team first is the reason why we've got to where we've got to this season," Longmire said.

"We've played a lot of good footy this season and individually played a lot of good footy, but that's always been on the back of outstanding team performance and working for and with each other."

Swans players were given a reprieve from training following the Port loss for a mental and physical refresh ahead of their Collingwood clash on Friday night.

Rowbottom admits the season has taken its toll as their home-and-away campaign nears the end, but is optimistic about rediscovering their form.

"Based on how the boys have rocked up today, it's been very necessary," he said.

"Everyone was pretty exhausted physically and mentally so two days off is a great refresher for us and we're ready to go."

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