Sydney Swans endure ‘tough’ grand final review in Dean Cox’s first session

Dean Cox began his tenure at the Swans with a “tough” review of the Swans’ 60-point loss to the Lions, hoping to overcome the demons of the disappointing grand final defeat. Cox, who replaced John Longmire after 333 games at the helm, decided to postpone the club’s first official day of pre-season training to re-watch the game. The former assistant coach said to media on Tuesday “it was something we had to do” and that the Swans “needed to address it”. “The way to go forward is to look at it and the players were fantastic through that. To be open and honest and review it like we normally would was really important for this football club going forward,” he said. “Hopefully we can learn from that. It’s behind us now, but you’ve got to take plenty of lessons from it. “Two things we value - the way we defend and our contest - was really poor. We want to be a team that when the stakes get higher, that’s what we turn to, that’s what we go to and we deliver on that. And we weren’t able to do that.” The Lions managed to tally a 46-point lead at half-time in a spectacular performance to down the 2024 minor premiers. Cox was of the belief that the only way to improve from the loss was to face it front on, backing the Swans to bounce back in 2025. “It was brave for them. It was tough to go back and watch, but they were open to it. They wanted to do it, so did myself and us as a football club,” he said. “That was our last performance as a football club. To be able to … stare it in the face, to learn from it - that’s the only way you can go forward. That’s why we had to do it. Meanwhile, Cox expects talks with Chad Warner to soon pick up pace as the Swans aim to continue an impressive retention streak with their star players. Both Western Australian clubs are circling the 23-year-old Warner, who made his first All-Australian team in 2024 and comes out of contract at the end of next season. Cox said the Swans wanted to determine Warner’s future within the “short term” as he weighs a potential move back to his home state. The Swans were able to lock away quartet Will Hayward (end of 2029), Ollie Florent (2029), James Rowbottom (2028) and Logan McDonald (2028) this year as rival clubs came knocking with big offers, but Warner’s camp was open last month that he was unsure over whether he would stay. “Chad is a really high priority of this football club. Not only the way he plays, but obviously his contract status and where it sits,” Cox said. “Now is a chance to sit down with him over the coming period and see where his head is at. “We want to make sure that he’s a part of this football club, that he performs for this football club. No doubt he will (perform), and then what the future holds, that’s what we’ve got to try and sort out in the short term.” Swans captain Callum Mills said creating the “best high performance environment we possibly can” would be the club’s best bet in enticing Warner to stay. “The environment you create is really important, but it’s not only for Chad, it’s for everyone else in the building,” Mills said. “He’s obviously a really vital part of our team, but we do this for everyone.” Mills said the Swans would be cautious about focusing too heavily on the disappointment of a second heavy grand final defeat in three years. The devastation for the skipper was two-fold after he was ruled out of a return in the decider after missing the preliminary final with a hamstring strain suffered at training. “It was a tough week, but I think that makes you as a person,” Mills said. “Everyone has hard times in their careers, but it’s being able to reflect, learn from it, be in the moment and be a different or better player or person because of it. “I think you’ve got to be careful holding onto that (hurt) for too long. You’ve got to be able to separate yourself from it and move forward.”