SYDNEY may have some soul searching to do, but coach Dean Cox is adamant the Swans haven’t strayed from their famed Bloods culture.
The Swans will get a timely reminder of the team-first ethos that netted the club’s first premiership in 72 years when the 2005 winning team does a lap of honour during Saturday’s match against Adelaide at the SCG.
Sydney’s season teeters on the brink with a 4-7 ledger at the midway point, compounded by a long injury list and players regularly getting suspended for undisciplined acts.
But Cox says inconsistency is what plagues his side, not a lack of belief in the Bloods ethos.
Player empowerment, playing for each other, never saying die, and strong off-field standards are the hallmarks of the culture fostered by former Swans coach Paul Roos.
Sydney players celebrate after the 2005 AFL Grand Final against West Coast at the Melbourne Cricket Ground on September 24, 2005. Picture: AFL Photos
West Coast great Cox knows Sydney’s trademark strengths all too well, with the six-time All-Australian ruck’s last-gasp kick famously marked by Leo Barry in the final seconds of the low-scoring 2005 Grand Final.
Former Sydney captain and powerhouse forward Barry Hall was also present at training on Friday morning.
“We always want to be a hard team to play against. That hasn’t changed, I reckon, since 2000 here. We still want that,” Cox said on Friday.
“The players are aware of what the team stood for and how they played through that period of time.
“There’s a little subtle messaging that we’ll play throughout the week about how we can try and emulate.”
Cox highlighted consistency as the “hardest part” for his charges.
“For periods, it’s been OK. Against Carlton, you go plus 30 (contested possession),” he said.
“Then you go minus 27 (against Melbourne) … the discrepancies have been so great.”
In-form winger Justin McInerney and defender Lewis Melican also return from suspension, with Cox pressing that his side could not afford to wait for injured stars Errol Gulden and Tom Papley to rescue them.
Swans captain Callum Mills is out through suspension.
“It’s about exactly that – seizing the moment when you are there and making sure we can’t wait,” Cox said.
“We’re not in a position to wait. As a football club, we never wait.
“One thing you want the players to do is to play their role in a trademark game consistently, and Ollie hasn’t been doing that.
“That’s what you expect from a player that’s played 150 games of footy, and there’s a number of them that have been in that position.
