Cox promises a new look for Swans
Newly appointed senior coach Dean Cox has flagged a new look for the Swans, with positional changes to be explored immediately in his first pre-season at the helm.
The long-time Sydney assistant said his succession of 14-year senior coach John Longmire had come “probably a year earlier than I’d imagined”, but he was ready to keep the Swans among the league’s top sides after two crushing grand final defeats in three years.
Cox had already taken the reins to Sydney’s pre-season program before Longmire announced on Tuesday he would step down and said he was already toying with on-field personnel changes for 2025.
“(The difference as senior coach) is you don’t have ideas you throw up – now you’ve got to make decisions,” Cox told RSN’s Breakfast with Harf program.
“Everyone comes to you to finalise what exactly is happening in the program. You’ve got to digest that, and work out which way you want to go, because the buck stops with you.”
Cox said contested ball and forward pressure were two key areas he felt the Swans could improve in 2025, but it was important to acknowledge they had played “some unbelievable footy for long periods of time”.
“There will be some positional changes that we’re going to try to have a look at over the pre-season,” he said.
“On top of that, we need to change parts of the way we play. Our contest was inconsistent throughout the year, so the method with which we need to go about that.
“We were really efficient going inside 50, but we want to try to keep it in our front half for as long as possible.
“The personnel changes – there will be a couple of them straight off the bat that we’ll look at through this pre-season.”
Cox said he wanted to emulate what he saw as one of Longmire’s greatest strengths during his 14-year tenure and facilitate strong opinions from his assistant coaches.
After serving as Longmire’s right-hand man in the coaches’ box, Cox was coy over who he would tap from the Swans’ current staff to play the same role for him.
“I’ve already spoken to (the coaching team) throughout this three or four-day period about the way that we do want to play and the identity we do want to have,” Cox said.
“We’ve been in constant dialogue throughout the whole last couple of years. I think that’s one thing I’ve really admired about John (Longmire) – he gives his people the power to coach, and I want to make sure I do the same as well.
“I’ve got to find someone I can sit next to and do it to, but one thing I want to make sure is that coaches are always throwing ideas up to try and change what’s happening in the game.”
