After letting a four-goal lead slip against Fremantle in Perth on Thursday night, Sydney coach Dean Cox refused to get drawn into any conversations about a hypothetical rematch during the finals.
It comes as a “scarring” worry emerges over the Swans’ season.
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Cox is more worried about what he can learn from the 38-point loss to the Dockers to take into next week’s clash with Adelaide, than what he might be able to use in September.
After keeping Fremantle goalless for the entire first half, Sydney allowed the AFL’s front runner to kick nine goals in the final quarter.
The Swans led by as much as 23 points in the second half and were still in front early in the fourth term. But the home side, with the biggest home crowd for a non-final against a team other than West Coast (55,966), added 9.5 in the last term, after getting back into the game with 6.5 in the third.
That’s 100 points added after half-time, when they had kicked only 0.11 for the first two quarters.
“Sydney haven’t thrown the towel in, but (the Dockers) have made them look inept defensively,” dual flag-winner David King said on Fox Footy with two minutes left in the game.
“(You) start asking questions – does this sort of result leave a scar? Out to 43 points – it’s a big number.”
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In the second half, Fremantle outscored Sydney 43-0 in the half-back-scoring battle.
“This has been on their radar for a couple of weeks … it was a very pointed part of their review up to the bye,” former Carlton coach Michael Voss told Fox Footy post-game.
“It was something they wanted to rectify … but the same problem has emerged, and it’s something they’re going to have to address, and quickly.”
Dual All-Australian Leigh Montagna added: “The numbers don’t lie; it’s been a concern for eight-to-nine weeks. They did a good job against the Western Bulldogs, who probably aren’t as damaging as they have been in the past, offensively.
“But when they come up against teams that can score, they are still getting sieved both with transition, and their ability to defend turnovers.”
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Cox said they need to learn from the way the Dockers midfielders were able to take control at stoppages.
“I think probably throughout the second quarter they started to get some ascendancy with where the game was being played, and then they did it again in the third quarter,” he said.
“It was a lot from clearance.
“They were plus 300 meters; they kicked four goals, three from clearance.
“They started to get to work in what they do really well.
“The last quarter was just a perfect opportunity away from home to take on the best team, three points in front. And that’s the disappointing thing, to allow them to kick nine goals in the last quarter is something we have to look at.
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“I think we’ve got to, first of all, worry about what we learn from Fremantle to take into Adelaide.
“We’ve got them Friday week.
“We need to make sure that we can control that because that’s where their strengths lie as well, usually around the contest and clearance. So, we need to make sure that we can get to work on that area of our game that we’re really consistent in.”
Tom Papley returned for Thursday’s game after six weeks on the sidelines and kicked two goals, having played about one-third of the game.
He watched from the sidelines as the scoreboard started to get ugly.
And Errol Gulden continued to gain form and fitness, in his third game back from a long layoff after a shoulder reconstruction.
He had a game-high 30 disposals, five tackles and seven inside 50 entries.
“At times, (Errol’s) playing a little bit of a different role for us,” Cox said.
“But yeah, the consistency is starting to get back into his game.
“We need it to happen, and he’ll do everything he possibly can to make amends and to turn it as quickly as he can.”