How Sydney finishes the rest of a dead rubber season is up to the players, according to coach Dean Cox

By Martin Pegan at the SCG

Sydney players leave the field during round 21, 2025. Picture: AFL Photos

SYDNEY coach Dean Cox has put it on the Swans’ players to find the motivation to finish the season strongly even after their hopes of playing finals have faded away.

The Swans outclassed the injury-ravaged Bombers in trying conditions at the SCG, before putting the cue in the rack and being given a huge scare in their 14-point win on Saturday.

SWANS v BOMBERS Full match coverage and stats

A season that started full of promise after being beaten grand finalists last year is now at risk of petering out with Sydney’s finals hopes almost certainly gone after its defeat to arch-rivals Greater Western Sydney last week.

“I didn’t find it tough to get motivated, it’s probably a question you ask of the players,” Cox said when asked if it was hard to motivate the players for what was essentially a dead rubber against the Bombers.

“I think as a footy club we have to finish the year off as well as we possibly can, and that was the message from the start of the week.

“It was tough to handle the start of the week, when we weren’t mathematically possible to make (the finals), but it’s my job to try and turn their attention pretty quickly to something that we can try and chase.”

Swans ruck Brodie Grundy showed no signs of slowing down even with finals out of reach as he pressed his claims for a third All-Australian blazer with a dominant performance against the Bombers.

The 31-year-old etched his name in the record books for the most disposals for a player taller than 2m as he gathered a career-high 39 disposals as well as 13 clearances and 32 hitouts.

Grundy launched his rich vein of form when the Swans were defeated by the Bombers in round nine and has since averaged 23 disposals and eight clearances a game.

“He put in a really good pre-season and a block to work on his endurance, and not only with his ability to cover the ground,” Cox said.

“His intensity around the ball has been probably a big highlight for a long period of time, certainly this year anyway, and he’s got back to that. He’s fully confident in his ability.

“He’s had a very, very impressive season and continues to play his role extremely well for this footy team.”

The Bombers debuted a record-breaking 14th player for the season with Jayden Nguyen called into the side to face the Swans and quickly looking comfortable at the level as he restricted Tom Papley to one goal and little impact on the game.  

But even after a brave fightback against the Swans, the Bombers have now lost nine matches in a row as their horror run with injury continues to take its toll.

Despite the difficulties through the second half of the season, Bombers coach Brad Scott was adamant that morale remains high among the players especially with the captain leading the way.

“Zach Merrett is probably the one who wears his heart on his sleeve. He’s a winner, he’s a competitor, it’s hard for him not to get frustrated at times just because of his will to win,” Scott said.

“As I keep saying to the players, this is tough, but anything worth doing is tough and you’ve got to persevere through the tough times, and he’s doing that really well.

“We do have to quite consciously work on the morale of our group. We can’t just say, ‘it is what it is’. We’re working really hard to keep the players up.”