HE’S ENDURED the harshest defeat amid the infancy of his head coaching career and Dean Cox says he accepts the criticism that will come his way as a result of that.
Sydney suffered its heaviest loss at the SCG in 27 years against Adelaide on Saturday night in what was the Crows’ equal biggest win over the Swans.
That has led to a player-driven punish session at the beach early the next morning and further inspection of the early days of Cox’s coaching reign.
“One thing you have to do is stick to your process on how we go forward. When you’re not going so great that’s the hardest thing to do, but you’ve got to realign yourselves with where you want to get to and stay on course.”
Justin McInerney after Sydney’s big loss to Adelaide in round 12, 2025. Picture: AFL Photos
It’s been a slippery rather than smooth elevation to senior coach status for Cox so far and one that has been impacted by significant injuries, notably to stars Errol Gulden and Tom Papley.
And he concedes the humiliating nature of the loss to Adelaide has also led to some personal introspection.
“Whenever you’re a coach you worry when you perform like that. What could I have done differently? How’s the messaging, how’s the week, how’s the prep that we put the players through, you’re continually asking that whether you win or lose,” Cox said.
“What you have to do as a senior coach is demand the highest of standards from the playing group and from everyone at the footy club. And that’s from me as well. That’s something we’ve spoken about and work on. We’re not perfect at it and we need to get close to that as soon as possible.”
Those demands began merely hours after the players returned from the SCG on Saturday night with an old school dawn beach session to drive home that their exertions against the Crows were unacceptable.
Cox, who says he wasn’t concerned with Wayne Milera’s ‘rabble’ accusations levelled at his team, admitted it was the leadership group who directed the gruelling session at sunrise, rather than him.
“The contest, pressure, effort and intensity all over the ground was well below par.
“We spoke at length after the game about the standard and what’s required, and from there the ability to get to work and that’s what we have to do. They’ve done that this week, which is really good, but we understand it’s a play that we need to maintain for a long period of time.”
As the Swans issues persist, especially forward of the ball, their links to troubled Bulldog Jamarra Ugle-Hagan will only continue to grow, but it’s not on top of the Sydney coaches’ agenda right now.
“I’ve had a bit of time thinking about some other things at the minute,” Cox joked.
“Have we spoken about Jamarra? No.”
“One thing I say to our list management team is we have to explore every person that is in the AFL, VFL, WAFL, SANFL to become the best team we possibly can. That’s my brief to them, get as many possibly players in that we can.
In encouraging news, Cox is hopeful that Gulden and Papley may return from their long injury lay-offs after the Swans’ bye and in time for the round 15 game against Port Adelaide.
As for Saturday’s clash with the Tigers, Cox said he wasn’t sure yet if Oli Florent would come straight back in after his high-profile demotion to the VFL, however he will regain captain Callum Mills.
Veteran defender Harry Cunningham is also in the mix for a return, while Sam Wicks and Aaron Francis are set to be available to face Richmond as they search for a strong showing after the Crows capitulation.
“Really confident. Whenever a club goes through a tough period you want to see a response, from everyone. So far, they’re saying that they will respond, but until Saturday (you won’t know) if it’s actually turned,” Cox said.
