Sydney’s 2024 grand final review took a full day, and it was brutal. It had to be.
The review of Saturday’s rematch with the Brisbane Lions won’t quite be as painful – there are levels to this, of course – but it won’t exactly be fun.
Sam Wicks at the full-time siren.Credit: Getty Images
In their season-opening 20-point defeat to Hawthorn, the Swans’ big problem was their approach to the contest. They fixed that up; from the opening bounce, their intensity, physicality and pressure was on point, and didn’t substantially waver.
The problem this time was their execution. It cost them a game they probably should have won by two to three goals. In effect, they defeated themselves.
“I thought we gave ourselves every opportunity, against a really good team,” said coach Dean Cox. “We just didn’t finish off our work at times. Normally, we’ve been pretty good in that area.”
In the critical moments, when it was there to be won, the Lions were just so much cleaner. Whenever the Swans had the ascendancy, on the other hand, they too often picked the wrong option or missed the target.
Isaac Heeney kicked two goals for the Swans.Credit: Getty Images
Their start was almost flawless, but they left too many goals out there; Tom McCartin and Will Hayward put easy set shots out on the full during their opening-term assault, and so their 15-point lead at the first change should have been bigger.
Joel Amartey, a player who the Swans really need to step up and be more consistent this season, kicked 0.2, and didn’t do a whole lot else. There were plenty of other occasions when players could have lowered their eyes and spot a free target, but instead, they went for glory themselves.
In a four-point defeat – 12.14 (86) to 12.10 (82) – all those little moments feel big in retrospect.
As Brisbane inevitably worked their way back into it, blowing out the cobwebs they would have last week if (former) Cyclone Alfred had allowed them, errors slowly crept into Sydney’s game. By the time they had to chase down the Lions’ slender lead, after their six-goals-to-two third term, it was obvious they were flustered – as Matt Roberts clearly was when he coughed up a kick-in with four minutes to go, putting it straight down Josh Dunkley’s throat, the play that ultimately cost them any hope of a late comeback.
Dean Cox is 0-2 after his first two games in charge.Credit: via Getty Images
Still, the Swans got plenty else right. The addition of Joel Hamling visibly stiffened up their defence and afforded more freedom to Nick Blakey. Debutant Riley Bice added plenty in the final exchanges. And James Jordon’s shutdown job on Lachie Neale was phenomenally successful, holding the two-time Brownlow medallist to just 10 possessions and zero goals.
Brisbane coach Chris Fagan described it as one of their “great wins” given the disruption they had to deal with; they lost Lincoln McCarthy (knee) during the week, Charlie Cameron (calf) just before the game, Kai Lohmann (lower leg) in the first quarter and Brandon Starcevich (concussion) in the last, while recruit Sam Day, who was supposed to help fill the void left by the retirement of Joe Daniher, was mourning the passing of his father.
“You look at it, and you go, we came to Sydney, they threw everything at us, they took Lachie Neale out of the game, we didn’t take as many uncontested marks as we usually do, but we still found a way,” Fagan said. “So I’m pretty happy with the group.”
Cox was as optimistic as an 0-2 coach could hope to be. Though there will be a question mark on their mentality that can’t be erased until the last Saturday in September, the Swans still have all the pieces to be a successful team. And so many of them – Errol Gulden, Callum Mills and Logan McDonald are among more than a dozen players missing through injury – aren’t even on the table yet. An eminently winnable trip to Fremantle next weekend awaits.
“One thing we’re still aware of is that when we play our best footy, we’re as good as any team in the comp,” he said. “We’ve shown that against two of the best teams in the comp. We’ve just got to make sure that we do it for longer.”
