The loss of captain Callum Mills to a knee injury is one as profound as it is cruel, given the way in which the heart-and-soul skipper has waded through the aftermath of the Swans' recent controversy.
A silver lining has emerged, though, with coach Dean Cox lauding some of Mills' contemporaries as genuine forces for good in the locker room in the wake of the club's darkest hour since its relocation.
Speaking to broadcaster Fox Footy ahead of his do-or-die preliminary final against Fremantle, Cox named those that have impressed.
“They've been phenomenal, the players. I can't speak highly enough of them," Cox said.
“Jai Serong, Logan McDonald, Charlie Curnow's been really important in this space, Justin McInerney, Errol Gulden. Some players that have played a fair bit of footy wanted to turn the season around as quickly as we possibly could.
“As soon as the finals started, it was a matter of 'no one's saying we can win, no one's saying we can compete at the level'. It's now about an opportunity to try and prove everyone wrong through that process, but also to get back to what we know works.
"We've worked extremely hard on our game plan for 10 months, and although it does rely on talent, it also relies a lot on role and system - that we can execute that against anyone, anywhere."
Mills himself will, to Cox's pleasure, be on the boundary on Friday night.
“He'll sit on the bench. I caught him after surgery, Wednesday night, in hospital, and the first thing he said was “What can I do on Friday night?”... he's going to sit on the bench, and help some of the players when they do come (off the ground).”
With veteran small defender Harry Cunningham another to be missed through injury, questions naturally arose around the Swans' ability to withstand Fremantle's significant front-half talent, with a back half missing the likes of Cunningham, Mills, Nick Blakey and Riley Bice.
Cox backed in the magnets at his disposal, with little mention given to those that are not.
“One thing I really like about our midfield mix and our high half-backs and high half-forwards is that they can play two ways," Cox said.
"They want to be accountable for them (their opponents) when they do have the ball, and then also try and work off them at a suitable time, to try and get some ascendancy, centre-forward, for us."
IT’S HERE.
PRELIM FINAL AT HOME 😤 #Bloods pic.twitter.com/Wvqw6SgAOc
— Sydney Swans (@sydneyswans) September 17, 2026
The Swans flipped the script in their surprise qualifying final win over Brisbane registering their fewest metres gained by hand for the year, after relying on that weapon to secure them a top two berth.
Cox said the change in mode was intentional, and will be considered again.
“At times we want to try and take the game on - if it is through handball chains, or it is through taking ground and going to the back of the bubble or to a contest - we want to make sure we can use both modes. We've trained that for a long period of time."
A premiership player in his own right, Cox is under no illusions as to the mountain that a preliminary final truly is to climb, but if he is nervous, he didn't show it, or say it.
“The nerves are quite good. I'm really excited to see what the team can produce, facing a very good outfit in Fremantle. Prelims are what you play footy for - they're the hardest (games) to get to, and the hardest to win."
The winner of this top two clash will face the winner of Saturday evening's Hawthorn versus Brisbane match in the 2026 AFL Grand Final.
