{"id":759640,"date":"2026-06-25T15:53:11","date_gmt":"2026-06-25T15:53:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/759640\/"},"modified":"2026-06-25T15:53:11","modified_gmt":"2026-06-25T15:53:11","slug":"afl-2026-swans-ball-movement-issues-analysis-brisbane-lions-defeat-sydney-latest-news","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/759640\/","title":{"rendered":"AFL 2026: Swans ball movement issues, analysis, Brisbane Lions defeat Sydney, latest news"},"content":{"rendered":"

The evidence was quietly telling us, but Brisbane\u2019s Thursday night belting of Sydney<\/a> laid bare the Swans\u2019 \u201calarm bells\u201d as the business end of the year fast approaches. <\/p>\n

Dean Cox\u2019s side was completely constricted when it tried to use the corridor, also seeing its handball game diminished, while the defence was again leaky; in line with recent form. <\/p>\n

Watch every match of every round of the AFL Premiership Season LIVE and ad-break free during play on FOX FOOTY, available on Kayo Sports | New to Kayo? Join now and get your first month for just $1.<\/a><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Across the first eight weeks of the season, the Swans were first in the AFL for points against and points against from turnovers. But between Rounds 8 and 15, they sat 14th and 14th respectively. <\/p>\n

And on Thursday, Sydney conceded 7.4 from stoppage and 5.1 from defensive half on a night where it looked vulnerable in defensive transition and impotent going forward. <\/p>\n

\u201cI thought Brisbane was cleaner, tougher, hungrier – plain and simple,\u201d Cox said in his post-match press conference. <\/p>\n

\u201cYou can\u2019t just rely on one phase of your game to get going to try and rectify the other couple … 20 shots (conceded) from turnover, that\u2019s too many. <\/p>\n

\u201cWe didn\u2019t get our back-half ball movement going until the last quarter, but we can\u2019t only rely on that.\u201d<\/p>\n

AFL legend Jason Dunstall explained how the Lions didn\u2019t allow the Swans \u201cany time to breathe\u201d. <\/p>\n

\u201cEvery handpass was under pressure,\u201d he said. <\/p>\n

\u201cThe player receiving was under pressure – they kept pressing up into the faces of the Sydney players trying to transition the ball. <\/p>\n

\u201cAnd in the end, they got desperate. Players like Gulden tried to force the issue; they turned a few over trying to find something that actually wasn\u2019t there.\u201d<\/p>\n

THE 3-2-1: Lions deliver scary flag warning as alarming Swans \u2018problems\u2019 exposed in Gabba stunner<\/a><\/p>\n

BRISBANE, AUSTRALIA – JUNE 25: Sydney leave the field following the 2026 AFL Round 16 match between the Brisbane Lions and the Sydney Swans at the Gabba on June 25, 2026 in Brisbane, Australia. (Photo by Russell Freeman\/AFL Photos via Getty Images)Source: Getty Images<\/p>\n

Sydney managed a defensive-50-to-inside-50 rate of just 14 per cent, while generating a measly six points from its defensive 50. <\/p>\n

That isn\u2019t going to get it done in the modern game, pitted against a Brisbane side that\u2019s had its defensive transition challenges. <\/p>\n

\u201cYou can see the (Lions\u2019) defensive coverage that was there through the corridor,\u201d former Carlton coach Michael Voss said on Fox Footy. <\/p>\n

\u201cThere was not a man that wasn\u2019t occupied, so you\u2019re forced to actually do something you don\u2019t want to do. <\/p>\n

\u201cAnd Gulden we know is an amazing kick, but he has to kick to a one-on-one that\u2019s in a really dangerous position on the field. <\/p>\n

\u201cObviously, Brisbane were able to read it really well and create the intercept. And they just did it play after play, and became energised by it.\u201d<\/p>\n

Dual All-Australian Leigh Montagna, who said in the immediate post-match that \u201cthere are some alarm bells\u201d, added that it\u2019s becoming \u201cpredictable\u201d for opposition teams to sniff out what the Swans are trying to do. <\/p>\n

\u201cI think everyone knows what you need to do (to beat the Swans). Now, whether you\u2019re good enough as a defensive unit to be able to stop it is the challenge,\u201d he said. <\/p>\n

\u201cBut I think we\u2019re seeing that the good teams, now, are able to do it \u2026 they\u2019ve got Fremantle and Adelaide coming up (in their next three weeks), who are two of the best defensive teams in the competition.\u201d<\/p>\n

ANOTHER after-the-siren no goal! | 00:54<\/p>\n

The Swans have now lost to three flag contenders in Hawthorn, Geelong and Brisbane, raising concerns over their game style\u2019s ability to stand up against the best. <\/p>\n

\u201cThey just couldn\u2019t generate any run off half-back,\u201d Voss said. <\/p>\n

\u201cWe talked about the runners that they need off half-back, the importance of their midfielders being able to link them through midfield. <\/p>\n

\u201cAnd they just got nothing from their tall forwards. Charlie Curnow was able to take a few good contested marks down the line, but we just didn\u2019t see enough of Amartey and McDonald. <\/p>\n

\u201cAs a result, Brisbane\u2019s defenders were set up in an assertive position, and they were able to counter-attack going back the other way.\u201d<\/p>\n

Overall, Montagna said the Swans were \u201ca watch\u201d as their brand comes under the microscope. <\/p>\n

\u201cLadder position, they\u2019re going to be fine \u2026 (but) they\u2019ve got some tough games coming up, and I\u2019m just interested to see from a bigger-picture looking forward to September, how their game style is going to stack up against the best teams. <\/p>\n

\u201cThat\u2019s my concern.\u201d<\/p>\n

Voss on ‘difficulty’ of watching Blues | 01:24<\/p>\n

Voss, meanwhile, said it wasn\u2019t yet \u2018alarm bells\u2019 for Sydney, but rather Thursday night will cause the Swans to sharpen up for the run home. <\/p>\n

\u201cThe interesting part, when you dive into a bit of psychology, when you win a few of the games that maybe you should have lost – and are the ears as open as they need to be?\u201d he offered. <\/p>\n

\u201cYou\u2019re winning games of football, you\u2019re in a great position on the ladder, you just get over the line in a couple of those games, and you\u2019re sitting in the review as a player saying: \u2018Yeah, I know what you\u2019re talking about, coach, but we\u2019re OK, we\u2019re still winning these games\u2019. <\/p>\n

\u201cNot too many alarm bells just yet, I think, if anything \u2026 this is ears-open, have a listen – \u2018on Monday, let\u2019s have a look through this, because we brought nothing that we stand for as a football team\u2019.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The evidence was quietly telling us, but Brisbane\u2019s Thursday night belting of Sydney laid bare the Swans\u2019 \u201calarm…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":759641,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[560],"tags":[638,64,63,55,639,85],"class_list":["post-759640","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-afl","tag-afl","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-australian-football-league","tag-australianfootballleague","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/759640","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=759640"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/759640\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/759641"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=759640"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=759640"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=759640"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}