Swan’s prickly response to journo amid teammate trade sledge

Swans star Errol Gulden wasn’t mincing words when asked an awkward question about the team’s “bitter reality”.

Swans star Errol Gulden has opened up on his “embarrassment” over last year’s Grand Final drubbing at the hands of Brisbane, while offering a prickly response to a repeated line of questioning around the disappointment.

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Gulden faced the press on team photo day at Moore Park on Tuesday, and questions almost immediately turned to the Swans’ 60-point loss to the Lions, and what demons may linger.

The superstar didn’t shy away from the questions, saying the loss has been “on my mind every single day”, and that the team reviewed the game first day back.

“We want to be back there, we want to have another crack at it – that’s the main thing we’ve been thinking about,” he said.

Gulden was then asked about what specifically has been on his mind about the game, before a third question came about whether he had any “explanation as to what went so wrong”.

The midfielder huffed and offered a short piece of advice to the reporter before answering the question.

“You don’t have to sugar coat it – it was one of our worst games for the year. You can say that, it’s fine. It’s reality,” Gulden said.

Dejected Sydney duo Luke Parker and Chad Warner after the 2024 Grand Final defeat. Picture: Phil Hillyard

He then added: “We’ve spoken about as a team - was it mentally? What space were we in? Was there gaps in the way we played as a team all year that we maybe were able to cover up with moments of brilliance through the season that you ultimately can’t get away with on grand final day?

“We’ve uncovered every stone. We can watch the game back and talk about it as many times as we want – it’s up to us as a playing group to go out there and actually do something about it.

“I’ve had the bitter taste in my mouth from the moment the game finished – that’s really driven me.

“I certainly watched the game. I was extremely disappointed and embarrassed individually.

“In a way, you can go one of two ways – you can hide from it or you can just stare it in the face and use it to get better.”

Now under new coach Dean Cox, Gulden said the Swans won’t be “reinventing the wheel” in 2025.

“We’ve kept a lot of our pillars of our game plan and how we want to play as a football team – Horse’s (Longmire) track record speaks for itself as a coach. An amazing coach – we did a lot of things right last year,” he said.

“We’re not reinventing the wheel.

Happy times: Chad Warner embraces former coach John Longmire. Picture: Getty Images

“Just a few little tweaks here and there – (Cox) has wanted to challenge us mentally. I’m not going to say it’s been good fun – it’s been bloody torture.

“Coxy has come in and put his fresh spin on things. It’s been a really exciting place to come into each day.”

The Swans will play a practice match against GWS on February 21 before their first official pre-season match against the Gold Coast on February 28.

SWAN’S CHEEKY RESPONSE TO STAR’S PROPERTY BUY AS TRADE SAGA LOOMS

Gulden also laughed off teammate Chad Warner’s Perth property purchase by describing the near $3 million pad as a “nice holiday home”.

The out-of-contract Warner will be a hot topic for 2025 with plenty of speculation the midfield star could return home to Western Australia.

And that chatter was only further fuelled by Warner’s recent purchase of a luxury Perth home.

But Gulden is confident the contract circus won’t derail Warner or the Swans this season.

“Obviously a nice holiday house for him,” Gulden laughed.

Chad Warner's WA property purchase. Picture: Supplied

“It does look like a pretty nice house.

“I’m certainly doing my best (to get in his ear about staying in Sydney).

“At the end of the day, it’s Chad’s decision at what he wants to do – I’ll be nibbling away throughout the year, don’t worry about that.”

Gulden said he could understand the complexity of Warner’s career call after his own contract extension last year, and would support his mate whatever call is made.

“We play football for a small part of our lives,” he said.

“Everyone’s got an individual decision to make – what’s best for you and what’s best for your family. You’ve got to make hay while the sun shines - is that the right saying?

“It’s entirely up to Chad.

“It’s going to be wrong for me to stand here and make rash comments … he’ll work through it with the club, his family, his partner, his mates. Hopefully we can have some sort of impact on him … and he stays here.

“It’s obviously going to play out throughout the year. It’s something we’ve got to be aware of as well – not put too much pressure on him.

“He certainly won’t let it affect his footy.

“I love playing with him, he’s one of my best mates. I just want to see him to be happy. At least he’s got a pretty nice pad now, too.

“It’s part of sport isn’t it, if he decides to stay or go. It’s pretty obvious what everyone in this building wants him to do.

“Maybe it was just an investment for him, who knows.”

Gulden said it’s not the Warner contract saga that has his focus - rather how to “right the wrongs” of last year’s demoralising grand final defeat to the Brisbane Lions.

Originally published as Swan’s prickly response to journo amid teammate trade sledge