An “extremely proud” Dean Cox has rued his Sydney side’s failure to capitalise on missed opportunities, with their season ending heartbreakingly at the hands of Fremantle after the visitors’ stunning final quarter.

The Swans conceded the final six goals of their preliminary final against the Dockers, after at one stage leading by 28 points deep in the third quarter on their home turf.

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It was a cruel way for the hosts’ 2026 to finish, in a season that can be swiftly cut into two halves — before Round 23, and after Round 23.

Speaking to journalists post-game, the second-year Swans coach began his press conference with total praise for his club in the wake of five players being stood down for breaching club standards on August 17.

“I’m extremely proud, as I said to the staff and players after the game, to put on a performance like that,” Cox said.

“Probably the North (Round 24) and Brisbane (Qualifying Final wins). And then to go again, I’m extremely proud of everyone uniting, galvanising and coming together to try and get our season to the last game. We fell short.

“To Freo’s credit, they ramped up towards the back end of the third. They kick a goal after three-quarter time, and then (won) at the start of the last around the contest.

Dean Cox looks on at quarter time of Friday night’s Second Preliminary Final between the Sydney Swans and Fremantle Dockers at the SCG.Source: Getty Images

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“We were in a really good position for three-and-a-half-quarters, and to their credit, at this time of year you can’t give a team any momentum — and they took it.

“They took their moments; that’s what good teams do. To Freo’s credit, they’ve been the best team all year, and it showed that you have to play a full 120 minutes against those teams and to get the result you’re after.

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“I thought our pressure on the ball carrier and the system that we played stood up, bar the last part. As a team, you’ve got to put yourself into the positions to win it from those moments. You can talk about them as much as you possibly can throughout a week, and you play against a really good team, you learn the hardest way.”

Isaac Heeney, Chad Warner, Nick Blakey, James Jordon and Riley Bice were the five players stood down for the season ahead of Sydney’s Round 24 clash, which saw a number of fringe players at the club recalled on the brink of finals under unforeseeable circumstances.

In their two matches prior to Friday night’s loss, casual bystanders would have been none the wiser on the forced changes as younger types in Jesse Dattoli, Caiden Cleary and Angus Sheldrick shouldered new-found responsibility.

“I’ve been really proud of the ability to play the players we have all the way through the year. The players that came in and played their first final a few weeks ago, when they were playing throughout the year, they acquitted themselves really well,” Cox continued.

“It’s about giving them those experiences as much as we possibly can. They’ll learn from them, they’ll have a really good summer and we’ll look to improve next year.

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“That’s the hardest part at the minute. To put yourself in a position where we were one kick down 20-plus minutes into the last quarter… your minds going to: ‘What can we do to try and win? What moments do we have to take?’

“It’s raw, but that’s footy. Footy’s a hard game, and you’ve got to be at your best for as long as you possibly can to get to the last game.”

Asked what he had learned personally from coaching his first-ever preliminary final, Cox responded: “Now, I get a chance to really reflect on the season we’ve had. We want to be playing these games of footy every year — that’s what we strive for.

“It’s not just about playing finals; it’s about giving yourself every opportunity at the pointy end to play in these games. I love prelim finals.”

Captain Callum Mills was the sixth player from the club’s best 23 who was absent for the preliminary final blockbuster, after cruelly rupturing his ACL in the first quarter of their 53-point win against Brisbane a fortnight ago.

His injury, paired with a calf niggle to Harry Cunningham during training this week, made their opening three quarters on Friday night all the more impressive as the opposing Dockers operated extremely close to full-strength.

“They’ve (the players) been really supportive, and wanted to action everything that we wanted to put in place. That’s been the great thing about when we come in every Monday … they’ve just been really hungry to improve,” Cox said.

“It’s hard to say it’s a missed opportunity when you play a really good footy team … the older players, they certainly understand that they (preliminary finals) don’t just come around every year.

“They’re hard to get to, and I think that will settle in these next few days that: ‘Yep, we missed an opportunity … but we should be really proud’.”

The future of 36-year-old stand-in skipper Dane Rampe remains unclear, with the veteran one of just five Swans players out of contract.