Fly had plenty to address in his press conference post match, starting with an appreciation for how good the Swans were. 

"They were outstanding. The way they defending the ground was as good as we've faced this year."

"They're a really good team."

"We came up here with high hopes that we'd give our best. I thought maybe we were a little bit off our best potentially, but full credit to Sydney."

"We try to bring our best every week, we learned some good lessons."

"They're very good at what they do, they're a very good team. They're certainly hard to beat on this ground, they've got a great method, they've beaten a lot of good teams."

Jordan De Goey was a late exclusion on for the match, pulling up sore from training on Friday. 

"He pulled up pretty sore Friday after training. We thought we had 48 hours, so we'll bring him up here and get treatment. There just wasn't an improvement, so we probably made the decision yesterday afternoon to be honest. It's just a tight hip flexor."

"There's a lot to lose this time of year, we pulled out a guy not at 100% and potentially could do a lot of damage, there'll be a bit to play out this week."

"We're trying to manage his load, get him fit and stronger."

"Jarrod Wade's done an awesome job on our list, they're fitter and stronger than they've ever been and again puts us in a position to be top four."

Young forward Jack Ginnivan was substituted out of the game with a hamstring injury.

"He got some hamstring tightness. He played probably the last 10 minutes, he even kicked that goal with a tight hamstring so it was bordering on a strain. Again we'll have to work through that and see what it is. Would be unlikely to play next week I would've thought."

"We ask our players to be themselves and express themselves."

"Jack got a free kick for a high tackle, we like that!"

A tough afternoon for dynamic forward Will Hoskin-Elliott who battled two hits to his nose throughout the match.

"I think he'll be okay, but a frustrating day for him."

Fly highlighted Sydney's defence as a key factor in the way the game played out.

"The spaces of the MCG allow us to spread the field, use our shape and shape the corridor, this field didn't allow us to do that, they didn't allow us to do that as well."

"I thought both the McCartin brothers were really strong in the air, I thought their backline was dominant today."

After winning 11 games in a row, Collingwood need just one more win to secure a top four spot. 

"We've had a great run, it's put us in a terrific position. We're now a chance next week to get the job done and finish in the top four. If you'd said that at the start of the year, I think most people would've thought that wasn't going to be the case."

"We'll get back to work on Tuesday and set our sights on what's ahead of us."

Rising star Nick Daicos had attention from Sydney tagger Ryan Clarke during the game.

"We went into the game knowing that he [Ryan Clarke] was likely to go to Nick [Daicos]. Nick's been in outstanding form. We tried to get Nick into a forward / mid role early because Jordy's out to play Jordy's role. He sort of didn't get around the ball enough so we moved him to half back and then Clarke went to him again. It was a fascinating duel."

"Nick's a terrific young player and this is part and parcel of becoming an elite player, the attention you get every week. Throughout his career this won't be the only time he gets tagged I'm sure of that."

Fly and the team will regroup after a tough loss today, and look forward to next week's blockbuster against Carlton.

"I was pleased that we hung in there today, we could've turned our toes up a few times, this group doesn't do that."

"We haven't done our supporters proud as well as we have in past weeks but we'll look to bounce back next week."

"This group in particularly, you turn up on a Monday or Tuesday and you would not know if you've won or you've lost."