Cox gives Opening Round big tick after Swans turnaround

Swans coach Dean Cox was full of praise for his side's supporters, after a raucous 40,372 bore witness to an historic third quarter.

On the back of midfield ascendancy, the Swans posted 75 points in the third stanza alone, after managing a miserly 2.6 (18) in the entire first half. 

Cox said the significant crowd was proof of headway being made in the northern frontier, and evidence of the controversial Opening Round concept's efficacy.

“The first thing to acknowledge is the mass of support that come (sic) to the SCG on a Thursday night. It's the biggest ever first game at home. To have over 40,000 (in attendance) shows that this (Opening Round) works," he said, to open his post-match press conference.

"We understood the responsibility from the opportunity that the AFL gave us, to put on a show. The half wasn't a great show, but when we played the way we wanted to in the third quarter, that crowd - the 40,000 - were as loud as I've heard them for a long time. It's important to acknowledge our supporters.”

The Swans looked lacklustre in the first half; a word unbecoming of the win-now offseason acquisitions the club made. After being bullied at the coalface, it was up to the Swans elite to get them back in the contest.

“I think in the first half they (Carlton) were +25 or something around the contest. They got their hands dirty, and we didn't. The response after that was very pleasing. It come (sic) from some of our good players standing up, and taking it to some of their players,” he said.

“I thought early, our midfield were beaten. And, convincingly. We were hanging on in the game, early. (Cooper) Lord, (Patrick) Cripps, (Sam) Walsh, (Jagga) Smith, they'd all had eight or nine touches each, when some of our blokes hadn't touched it.

"The response after half time from them, especially Errol (Gulden) had a lot of it early in the third, Isaac (Heeney) did what he did, Justin (McInerney) did what he did, ‘Rowy' (James Rowbottom) got his hands dirty like he always does and set the scene – they responded really well.”

Cox was quizzed on whether he was better placed after a year in the saddle to address his group's poor first half, and offered that this was indeed the case.

“You've experienced it before, you probably understand your group a bit better,” he said, while crediting his line coaches for their succinct triaging of the Swans' flaws in an uncharacteristic opening.

Dual Coleman Medallist Charlie Curnow's move to the club was the talk of the trade period, and while Cox was pleased with his three goal return, it was a less-heralded acquisition in Jai Serong that drew the coach's praise.

“I thought Jai kept us in it early - he was one of our best players in the first half when we were really challenged. It was always going to be mostly about Charlie, but I couldn't be prouder of what those two players (Serong and Rosas) have done over the summer. The work they've put in, they're great humans, and they deserved to represent the club tonight, and they did that really well.”

Cox was pleased with the composure of his charges, in an environment where skirmishes were to be expected.

“We knew it was going to boil at some stage and something was going to happen, and it's a credit to our guys that we didn't overreact and give away silly free kicks.”

The second-half turnaround, underscored by a seismic, 12-goal third term, owed a lot to a summer spent conditioning one the league's best lists. 

“The way we played was the most pleasing thing. We were really challenged in the first half with the ability to outnumber. They did that a lot better than us. We've got a lot of confidence in the work we've done over the summer that we can finish games. The players have put a huge amount of work into being as fit as they possibly can.”

The Swans seem to have an air of self-awareness about the Grand Final fadeouts that populate their recent history, with Cox offering a glimpse into how the club is going about re-writing this narrative.

“I think it's important that the players can respond when things aren't going their way or they're not playing their best. To the players credit, they openly speak about the work that they're doing to stay in the game for as long as they possibly can, and they did that extremely well," he said.

"We don't want to put ourselves in that position all the time. We'd love to start and not give opportunities to opposition teams as easily as we did, but I was really pleased with that response.”