{"id":790166,"date":"2026-07-09T23:11:14","date_gmt":"2026-07-09T23:11:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/790166\/"},"modified":"2026-07-09T23:11:14","modified_gmt":"2026-07-09T23:11:14","slug":"afl-2026-dean-cox-press-conference-video-sydney-swans-loss-to-fremantle-latest-news","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/790166\/","title":{"rendered":"AFL 2026: Dean Cox press conference, video, Sydney Swans loss to Fremantle, latest news"},"content":{"rendered":"

After letting a four-goal lead slip against Fremantle in Perth on Thursday night<\/a>, Sydney coach Dean Cox refused to get drawn into any conversations about a hypothetical rematch during the finals.<\/p>\n

It comes as a \u201cscarring\u201d worry emerges over the Swans\u2019 season. <\/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

Cox is more worried about what he can learn from the 38-point loss to the Dockers to take into next week\u2019s clash with Adelaide, than what he might be able to use in September.<\/p>\n

After keeping Fremantle goalless for the entire first half, Sydney allowed the AFL\u2019s front runner to kick nine goals in the final quarter.<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

That\u2019s 100 points added after half-time, when they had kicked only 0.11 for the first two quarters.<\/p>\n

\u201cSydney haven\u2019t thrown the towel in, but (the Dockers) have made them look inept defensively,\u201d dual flag-winner David King said on Fox Footy with two minutes left in the game. <\/p>\n

\u201c(You) start asking questions – does this sort of result leave a scar? Out to 43 points – it\u2019s a big number.\u201d<\/p>\n

MORE COVERAGE:<\/p>\n

WHARFIE TIME: Freo goes from goalless to goalfest in statement Swans comeback win<\/a><\/p>\n

\u2018YOU\u2019RE AN IMBECILE\u2019: Stars lashed as great takes aim at controversial AFL rule<\/a><\/p>\n

DRAFT WATCH: Bittersweet day as star explodes; father-son mystery over two-club call<\/a><\/p>\n

In the second half, Fremantle outscored Sydney 43-0 in the half-back-scoring battle. <\/p>\n

\u201cThis has been on their radar for a couple of weeks … it was a very pointed part of their review up to the bye,\u201d former Carlton coach Michael Voss told Fox Footy post-game. <\/p>\n

\u201cIt was something they wanted to rectify … but the same problem has emerged, and it\u2019s something they\u2019re going to have to address, and quickly.\u201d<\/p>\n

Dual All-Australian Leigh Montagna added: \u201cThe numbers don\u2019t lie; it\u2019s been a concern for eight-to-nine weeks. They did a good job against the Western Bulldogs, who probably aren\u2019t as damaging as they have been in the past, offensively. <\/p>\n

\u201cBut when they come up against teams that can score, they are still getting sieved both with transition, and their ability to defend turnovers.\u201d<\/p>\n

Swans set the tone with strong 1st half | 04:33<\/p>\n

Cox said they need to learn from the way the Dockers midfielders were able to take control at stoppages.<\/p>\n

\u201cI 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,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was a lot from clearance.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey were plus 300 meters; they kicked four goals, three from clearance.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey started to get to work in what they do really well.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe last quarter was just a perfect opportunity away from home to take on the best team, three points in front. And that\u2019s the disappointing thing, to allow them to kick nine goals in the last quarter is something we have to look at.<\/p>\n

Suns enter bid for Collingwood star | 01:04<\/p>\n

\u201cI think we\u2019ve got to, first of all, worry about what we learn from Fremantle to take into Adelaide.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019ve got them Friday week. <\/p>\n

\u201cWe need to make sure that we can control that because that\u2019s 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\u2019re really consistent in.\u201d<\/p>\n

Tom Papley returned for Thursday\u2019s game after six weeks on the sidelines and kicked two goals, having played about one-third of the game.<\/p>\n

He watched from the sidelines as the scoreboard started to get ugly.<\/p>\n

And Errol Gulden continued to gain form and fitness, in his third game back from a long layoff after a shoulder reconstruction.<\/p>\n

He had a game-high 30 disposals, five tackles and seven inside 50 entries.<\/p>\n

\u201cAt times, (Errol\u2019s) playing a little bit of a different role for us,\u201d Cox said.<\/p>\n

\u201cBut yeah, the consistency is starting to get back into his game.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe need it to happen, and he\u2019ll do everything he possibly can to make amends and to turn it as quickly as he can.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"After letting a four-goal lead slip against Fremantle in Perth on Thursday night, Sydney coach Dean Cox refused…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":790167,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[560],"tags":[638,64,63,55,639,85],"class_list":["post-790166","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\/790166","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=790166"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/790166\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/790167"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=790166"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=790166"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=790166"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}