u/dphi0001

Papley, Campbell and Andrew all tests!

Emma (also a Swans academy player) will replace defender Alice Mitchell, who was ruled out for 2026 after an ACL injury earlier this year

That’s two acls for the W already and it’s only preseason…

Errol, Melican, Rampe all tests to face Brisbane!

I know its only round 7, but I wanted to do a quick writeup of what I have seen so far, and why it just feels different from 2024.

There's a word for what this Sydney team does that nobody has quite nailed yet (the slingshot doesn't fully capture it). The closest I've gotten to is the Bloodrush, which is the Bloods' identity and culture, expressed through a rushing, wave-based, relentless system that swamps opponents before they can organise. It's not pure chaos ball, as chaos ball teams don't concede 65.3 points per game. This is something more structured and more dangerous: controlled aggression at speed, operating from a clear set of rules, with a Plan B ready when the corridor gets blocked. 

The 2024 team was brilliant, but we relied on winning through ten minute bursts and then cruising to victory, which all came crashing down on the last day of September. 

This 2026 team is ruthless, with a hunger to win the ball at any cost. I haven’t seen that from a Sydney team since 2012. 

The stats:

Using stats available on Wheelo, we have gone from elite to terrifying (2024 to 2026):

• Points for: 95.6 to 116.3 per game (1st to 1st)
• Points conceded: 78.1 to 65.3 (6th to 1st)
• Average margin: +17.5 to +51.0 (2nd to 1st)
• xScore differential: +7.1 to +36.6 (7th to 1st)
• xScore: 84.2 to 109.6 (7th to 1st)

The xScore and differential shows our attack is not just goalkicking luck unlike in 2024. Accuracy is actually slightly down, 52.5% to 50.8%. The scoring jump is coming from our gameplan by rushing the opposition defence with repeat entries:

• Shots at goal: 26.7 to 34.0 (6th to 1st)
• Inside 50s: 53.5 to 64.7 (8th to 1st)

The gameplan shift is obvious as we all know. Cox has turned us into a handball slingshot side:

• Kicks: 220.0 to 212.9 (4th to 10th)
• Handballs: 136.0 to 179.6 (13th to 2nd)
• Kick percentage: 61.8% to 54.2% (4th to 17th)
• Handball metres gained: 134 to 459 (13th to 1st)
• Metres gained: 5,833 to 6,833 (12th to 1st)

That is the Bloodrush in numbers: win or intercept the ball, rush forward by hand through the corridor in waves, then hit the forward line before the opposition can reset. The forward line presses deep, which stretches the oppositions defence, allowing us to either get penetrating entries F50 or allowing our midfield to score goals from outside 50 while streaming through the corridor.

Opponents have tried to block the corridor; the Hawks in Round 2 clogged the corridor and won the game due to this. But after that loss, we clearly have developed a plan B. When the Bulldogs clogged the corridor in Round 7, we shifted our entire attacking structure to the wings instead. Paps confirmed post-game that countering the corridor block was something they'd specifically prepared after the Hawthorn loss. The result: 70 inside-50s and a 66-point win (I know they have been decimated by injury but we can only beat who is in front of us).

The forward line is now the most dangerous in the league:

• Offensive 1v1 wins: 10.1 to 14.1, (12th to 1st)
• Contested marks: 7.9 to 10.7, (17th to 1st)
• Marks inside 50: 11.3 to 15.0, (11th to 1st)
• Marks inside 50 differential: -0.5 to +6.9, (13th to 1st)

The clear Curnow effect. He commands the opposition's best key defender (sometimes two!) every week, which frees Amartey and McDonald against lesser opponents. The 2024 Swans needed cleaner supply and relied more on individual brilliance in ten minute bursts. The 2026 Swans can actually win aerial contests, and our key and small forwards are so much more potent as a result. The vast improvement in contested marking is amazing.

The defence has improved massively at the same time:

• Points conceded: 78.1 to 65.3, (6th to 1st)
• Opposition marks inside 50: 11.8 to 8.1, (12th to 1st)
• Opposition chain-to-score: 19.8% to 17.7%, (9th to 1st)
• Intercepts: 66.6 to 77.1, (8th to 1st)
• Defensive 1v1 wins: 8.4 to 11.1 (18th to 8th)
• Tackles: 58.3 to 64.0, (13th to 1st)
• Tackle differential: +2.5 to +13.1, (5th to 1st)

This isn't passive defending. It is an aggressive intercepting that turns defence directly into offence. An intercept in the defensive zone or a ball won through tackling immediately triggers the slingshot and the defence powers the attack.

The zone in the defensive 50 is specifically designed to leave opponents only two options: shots from great distance or acute-angle boundary shots. The drop in opponent chain-to-score percentage reflects exactly that.

Interesting note: pressure acts are down in raw volume, but tackles are way up. So this is not just more “pressure acts” everywhere. It looks more like cleaner, more effective, more contact-based pressure to actually win the ball. We rush the ball carrier, hunt in waves, win the ball back and rush forward. 

The contest profile is the biggest difference from 2024. This is the one that directly addresses how every previous Sydney team lost the last four grand finals:

• Contested possessions: 129.4 to 138.9, (13th to 1st)
• Post-clearance contested possessions: 80.6 to 90.3, (13th to 1st)
• Clearances: 36.2 to 37.0, (12th to 5th)
• First possession to clearance: 74.2% to 78.8%, (13th to 2nd)

The 2024 grand final was Brisbane physically overwhelming a midfield that, when Heeney was neutralised, had no answer at contest level. The 2026 midfield ranks in the top three for contested possessions. You cannot simply run over us anymore.

Two player changes explain this. Juzzy has been converted from a winger to an onballer and his contested footy is improving every week (Errol has as well, which is a bonus for when he returns). Gus has been given consistent game time and delivers 22+ disposals and 7+ contested possessions with quiet reliability every week. Together they've changed the physical composition of the midfield.

And the most important piece of context for all of this: the team is doing it without Errol, and without Heens for two of seven games. Chad is doing his thing, but we aren’t relying on him to break open games. Everyone is doing their role, and we are looking like a star team rather than a team of stars. 

The trade-off is the consequence of chaos. The 2026 Swans are messier. More clangers (most in the comp), more turnovers (most in the comp) and worse kicking efficiency (2nd worse). But that is the cost of playing faster, more direct, more handball-heavy, higher-risk football. We turn it over more but we defend those turnovers much better and punish opposition turnovers far more brutally. 

That is why 2026 feels different.

2024 was brilliant but surge-dependent and we relied on our big three far too much to save our game. We seemed invincible, but we had a soft underbelly that was exposed during our form slump late in the year, and then brutally exposed during the last day of September

2026 Sydney just feels different. We are faster by hand, stronger in the air, better at contest, more dangerous from turnovers, more aggressive without the ball, and significantly less dependent on perfect games from any individual. We have a system with everyone playing their role, a dangerous forward line with three aerial threats, a defensive structure that actively intercepts and generates offence, and now a prepared Plan B when the primary system is blocked.

That's why I love calling this the Bloodrush. We don’t just score heavily, but we suffocate and hunt the other team. We pile on the hurt, and are ruthless with actual four quarter efforts (we have won 21 quarters and lost only 7). We are no longer cruising to victory, but are putting opponents to the sword.

And astonishingly, we still have our best player to come back for finals.