He said the team had worked hard over the pre-season to eradicate the last quarter fadeouts that characterised the Roos' season last year, which made Saturday's loss so galling.
"We've been doing things over the pre-season to try and halt the onslaught that teams were able to do to us in last quarters last year," Swallow said.
"We found we were able to get ahead early in the game but teams would make their run at us in the last quarter.
"I think we were a lot better in that regard at the weekend. We were still trying to attack and run the ball and had a few chances at the end, with obviously Shagga and Lindsay (Thomas) both having shots late in the game. I think in the end we just cost ourselves by not kicking accurately throughout the day."
Indeed, despite being outscored seven goals to two in a frenetic last quarter, scoring shots were not quite as skewed, with the Pies getting their seven majors from nine attempts, while the Roos took six shots to get their two goals.
Despite the loss, and the fact that he ended the game with three stitches above his left eye, Swallow said he enjoyed the challenge of running with one of Collingwood's most consistent and seasoned performers – and a regular nemesis for the Kangaroos – Scott Burns.
"I was running with Burns whenever I came on. When I was on him I did all right, and when I went off he was left to run around a bit on his own and he did a bit of damage.
"We broke even for most of the day, but I only really spent about half the game actually on the ground."
Getting more game time is something Swallow is keen to address - and it's a topic he has already raised with Dean Laidley.
"I only spent 65 minutes on the ground on the weekend but I've since spoken to Dean about eventually getting my game-time up to about 75 or 85 per cent of the game.
"I'd be happy if that meant I can go forward and provide a bit of option as a small crumbing forward, but I really just want to get to a level where I can run hard for most of the game and feed the ball out to our running players like Boomer and Wellsy."
The former East Fremantle junior star is mindful of not trying to copy the style of any particular player but admits to following the on-field exploits of a couple of the stars from the Eagles, the team he used to follow as a kid growing up in Perth.
"I suppose everyone looks at Chris Judd and how amazing he is. But just lately I've started to have a good look at Daniel Kerr and just the way he gets in and gets the ball.
"We're probably pretty similar builds and play a similar sort of game. If in five years time I can work hard on all aspects of my game and get to where he is I'll be doing pretty well.
In what would be music to the ears of all Roos fans, Swallow said he feels a lot more settled in Melbourne after what was a pretty tough first 12 months in a new city. It is a sign of the maturity of the articulate 19-year-old that he was able to perform so well in 2006 despite his admission that he struggled to adapt to his new surroundings.
"I suppose playing 12 games in my first year made things a bit easier than perhaps it could have been. Knowing that I might be able to build on that in my second year has made me hungrier to make sure we have more success as a team. So in that regard, you find it a little easier to take the focus off how much I might have missed home.
"Apart from that, Ed Lower, one of my best mates at the club, moved into my place about two or three months ago. We're pretty similar personalities so I feel a lot more settled here now."
