SEN footy analyst Terry Wallace believes a lack of ‘imagination’ is holding the Sydney Swans back from being a legitimate premiership contender.

After starting the season 0-6, the Swans won 15 of their next 17 games, and headed into their semi-final against Geelong as overwhelming favourites, only to go down by 59 points.

The former Western Bulldogs and Richmond coach believes too few players are doing the heavy lifting, which is ultimately costing them during finals, evidenced during their 2016 Grand Final loss to the Bulldogs and this year’s loss to the Cats.

“I don’t think personally that this side has enough imagination in it,” Wallace said on SEN’s The Run Home.

“They play [Josh] Kennedy, [Dan] Hannebery, [Luke] Parker and they run them into the ground all season, and by the time they get to the end of the year they’re just about stuffed.

“They haven’t had the flow with other players doing the heavy lifting. How many times do you see Kennedy playing as a one-out forward like Dustin Martin does, just to give him a break? He’s always in at the action.

“It wears those blokes out, so when you need them by the end of the year, they’re gone. It also doesn’t allow enough guys to roll through the centre of the ground and develop.

“They’ve just got to be a bit more creative with what they’ve got on their list, let alone with what they bring onto the list.”

One of Wallace’s key changes would be to move young gun Callum Mills into the midfield, having played his first two seasons across half back.

He feels by giving the younger players extra responsibility, the club will be more successful long-term, even if it costs them some victories during the year.

“He’s a hungry kid, he’s played all of his football as a midfielder…so important was he to other clubs that they started targeting him and putting some real physical pressure on him,” Wallace said.

“You’ve got to trust [Isaac] Heeney and Mills, throw [Jake] Lloyd and [Zak] Jones in there more often, get the other blokes out at times.

“It might cost you one or two games through the year, but you’ll certainly be better forward in 18 months and you’ll be better for it when the whips are cracking later in the season.”

The other area Wallace feels needs improvement is their record at the MCG, having won just two from six since the 2016 Grand Final, including just one finals victory at the venue since their last premiership in 2012.