Tom McCartin trialled in attack as Sydney’s first pre-season under Dean Cox hints at changes
Dean Cox has wasted no time making his mark on Sydney, transforming one of the club’s key players into a new role. LACHLAN MCKIRDY has the latest track whispers.
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The first positional change of the Dean Cox era at Sydney may have reared its head on Tuesday morning with key defender Tom McCartin spending a fair bit of their first official session of pre-season as a marking forward.
Having come through the junior ranks in Geelong as a forward, McCartin spent his first few seasons at the Swans ahead of the ball.
However, he has since found a home in defence and over the past few years has become the club’s number one key defender.
That hasn’t stopped Cox from moving the magnets around as he looks to help the club atone for their grand final disappointment.
While it was only a low-intensity match play drill, McCartin was playing as the deepest key forward while other players like Joel Amartey, Hayden McLean and Logan McDonald are slowly integrated back into the group.
The club also focused on defenders during the draft with the likes of Riley Bice, Riak Andrew and Blake Leidler all able to play in the backline. It means McCartin could be given the freedom to create a completely different look in the Swans’ forward line.
“That’s an early one,” Cox said. “Tommy’s been phenomenal for us down back for periods of his career so far, but he started as a forward as well.
“One thing we want to try and do is we want to build flexibility in our team. We want to also make sure that Tommy’s been around for a while and gets a look ahead of the ball at times. When he does that, he creates something completely different for the dynamic of our forward line.
“We’ll do that with midfielders, we’ll do that with forwards and also some defenders will change places. That’ll eventuate over the whole summer. There’s nothing straight that we’re going to do right today, but they’ll get a look at multiple positions.”
Tuesday saw the entire Swans playing group return to the track at Moore Park with all players involved in the session.
Several players remain on modified programs given the long countdown to Opening Round. That includes Isaac Heeney who is recovering well from surgery on the ankle injury he carried through finals. He was running and kicking strongly as he looks to double down on his career-best year.
Tom Papley was another one who focused on fitness on Tuesday as he predominantly ran laps around the oval.
All eyes were on Chad Warner for the first session of his final year on contract at the Swans. He was a strong participant across the session with Cox keeping a close eye on the midfielder as he was put through his paces in the heat.
Yet again, the focus for the match play segments of the Swans’ training was on transition drills at a quick tempo. Players would look for outlets, primarily switching across the field, to move the ball downfield before turning around and doing the same thing on the way back.
FIVE PLAYERS TO WATCH
Peter Ladhams
The backup ruckman looks in very good nick to start pre-season and is running strongly. His ball use, especially his kicking, was also on display. It’s a big year for Ladhams given he is coming off contract, but Cox’s early suggestion of making sure everyone gets a game should give him some confidence of deputising at some point for Brodie Grundy.
Lewis Melican
Melican has been very vocal during the first few sessions of pre-season, often leading the running drills and getting around his teammates. He is exuding confidence following his career-best year and could be tasked with more responsibility if McCartin is shifted forward.
Jack Buller
Buller played in the AFL a week after being picked up in the 2023 mid-season draft but hasn’t been spotted since due to countless injuries. However, he has started pre-season strong and many Sydney defenders have stated he can be a handful in one-on-one contests. Could be one to watch if Cox is set on changing their forward dynamic, and if the 23-year-old can get his body right.
Sam Wicks
Wicks fell out of the team in the back half of last season but is playing for a contract again and has ticked all the right boxes early. His speed and forward pressure has always been a standout, but the 25-year-old looks to have bulked up slightly and will hope he can win a place back in the club’s best 23.
Caleb Mitchell
Mitchell is another one who has caught the eye in multiple pre-seasons but hasn’t quite been able to break through consistently. He made his debut earlier this year and was a constant presence in drills, buzzing around the ball and always looking to get involved. Now in his third year in the AFL, it could be his time to finally shine.
‘WASN’T NICE TO VIEW’: HOW SWANS ADDRESSED THEIR GF DEFEAT
The first item of the Swans’ 2025 pre-season was reviewing and addressing their disappointing performance in this year’s grand final against Brisbane.
Initially scheduled to be a track session on Monday, one of Dean Cox’s first major calls in charge of the team was to bring the review forward to day one.
The entire day was spent dissecting the match. Players and coaches alike gave their assessments of what went wrong. There was absolutely nowhere to hide with the club knowing something has to change if they want to break their streak of four grand final defeats.
“It was something we had to do,” Cox said. “We moved our training session on the field because we needed to address it.
“The way to go forward is to certainly look at it. To be open, honest and to review it like we did was important for this football club. It’s behind us now, but you’ve got to take plenty of lessons from that.
“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.”
Cox has already started formulating new strategies for the way he wants the Swans to play, hinting there will be a “fair bit” of change. But part of the issue is that the club won’t be fully judged until they return to the grand final and find improvement.
As a result, the two key takeaways from the review were where they specifically found themselves underperforming on the biggest stage at the MCG.
“(It was) probably two things that we value, the way we defended and our contest was really poor, which had been consistent for most of the year,” Cox said.
“We want to be a team that when the stakes get higher, that’s what we turn to. We weren’t able to do that. Brisbane were phenomenal. They played a really good brand of football and extremely well, but we let ourselves down in those areas.”
Swans captain Callum Mills watched the grand final from the sidelines after failing his late bid to play in the match following a hamstring strain.
Reliving that week brought back painful memories but he’s confident the team is well placed to learn from their mistakes following Monday’s review.
“It was really tough and everyone has different emotions, but it’s something we obviously weren’t proud of,” Mills said. “But you have to stare it in the face to be able to move forward … and hopefully when we get back or any big games, we’re able to produce what we learned.
“It wasn’t nice to view it, but it was also nice to be able to move on, to be able to see it and then hopefully implement the things we want to do.
“It was a tough week, but that’s what makes you as a person is to be able to go through those times. Everyone has hard times in their careers, but it’s being able to reflect, learn from it and then be a better player or a person because of it.”
The past 12 months have certainly been the toughest of Mills’s career. His grand final disappointment was matched with just seven games for the year following an off-season shoulder injury.
However, the Sydney skipper is careful to ensure his motivation isn’t entirely about making up for lost time. And he knows a fresh voice in Cox will get the best out of him, and the rest of his teammates.
“I feel good,” Mills said. “I got a nice, not a rest last year, but it was a load off the body. So I’m looking forward to a really good pre-season. I’m super excited to get some consistency into my body and train.
“Coxy’s brought in a lot of energy. Whilst we know him, we don’t know him as a head coach. He did an amazing job setting the tone (on Monday) and throughout the review.
“I have the utmost belief in the group that we’ve got. We obviously didn’t perform well on the day … but we’re also excited to get back on the horse and learn.”
Originally published as Tom McCartin trialled in attack as Sydney’s first pre-season under Dean Cox hints at changes
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