The Swans have a secret weapon waiting to be unleashed next year, according to midfield star Errol Gulden.
Sydney's superstar recruit Charlie Curnow may be the acquisition of the off-season, and given the club's fixture ranks as the eighth easiest for 2026, the expectation is the club returns to the post-season in style.
However, they'll be helped in meeting that expectation with the return of key forward Logan McDonald too, whose presence on the playing list is not lost on Gulden, given McDonald kicked 37 goals in a runner-up season just 12 months ago.
"There hasn't been much spoken about him, but I'm pretty happy to keep it that way because he'll be a bit of a secret weapon for us," Gulden told media on Wednesday.
"People will forget with him not playing any footy last year just how much of a weapon he is for us.
"Obviously having Charlie here, it's going to help him out too."
McDonald missed essentially the entire 2025 season with a serious ankle injury after re-signing with the Bloods on a four-year extension in mid-2024, but Gulden is "bullish" on his ability to instantly reinsert himself into Sydney's forward line and thrive.
That's partly due to Curnow's presence being immediately felt inside forward 50, which Gulden likened to the legendary Lance Franklin, using his immense gravity to drag the best defender - or multiple defenders - over to him to create space for his fellow forwards.
"Logan's been flying," Gulden said of the 23-year-old's start to pre-season.
"He works really hard at his craft and has an amazing footy brain, so I'm really bullish about what he can achieve next season.
"We're hopefully going to have a four-headed monster down there with the forwards we've got. I'm assuming most weeks Charlie will have the oppositions best defender on him, so I think that'll do wonders for the other forwards.
"[Curnow] is similar to Lance in the sense that he's a massive presence. Seeing him come out of the square is pretty good but as I said, the work he's been able to do for the other forwards as well is great."
Curnow hasn't just been elevating the Swans' efforts on the training pitch, but in an off-field sense too.
"He's come in and is telling us what he wants, which is new," Gulden said.
"He's a lot more sure of himself as a person... He's contributing a lot in our meetings and our cultural stuff as well.
"One reason why he wanted to come here was the Bloods culture and he's already contributed to that massively."
While Gulden admits it's still early days and the intensity of training will only ramp up as the 2026 season nears, it's become apparent just how well the midfield-forward connection has been thus far since Curnow's arrival.
"He makes our role as midfielders easier. It's quite early still but it definitely helps having him come to us and giving us a clearer picture of what he wants," Gulden said.
"Where he wants the ball to go and how he wants us to deliver the ball inside 50 to him, he knows as a player what his strengths are. That's going to complement the other boys down there."
A blockbuster clash awaits the Swans as they kick off the 2026 AFL season, taking on Curnow's former club Carlton - and ex-Swans Ollie Florent and Will Hayward - at the SCG on Thursday, March 5.
