Sydney premiership coach Paul Roos has called out his former team for playing “un-Sydney-like” football in the club’s loss to Port Adelaide on Sunday.
The Swans sit 14th on the ladder after six games, having beaten only North Melbourne and Fremantle.
It has been a turbulent year for Sydney, coming off a heavy defeat in last year’s grand final, the departure of coach John Longmire and dealing with injuries to key players Callum Mills, Tom Papley, Errol Gulden, Joel Amartey, Harry Cunningham and Taylor Adams.
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Sydney hopes of making it back to the grand final are slipping away Getty
However, Roos isn’t buying the personnel issues, calling out the way the Swans are playing under new coach Dean Cox.
“I know a lot of them and are attached to a lot of them,” Roos told ABC radio.
“I just don’t think they have got a great system at the moment. We are talking about the team that played in the grand final last year, but I talked about it at the end of last year. They just look like a team that plays Globetrotter football.
“Nineteen tackles at half time is un-Sydney-like and I got a couple of text messages from former Sydney players … (it) was un-Sydney-like.
“So they have to go back to basic systems. They have got a lot of injuries so I don’t want to hang Dean Cox but we are talking about a pattern here and I just think get back to a really good system.
“Don’t just rely on talent and Harlem Globetrotter-type football. Anyone can chase, anyone can tackle and that’s been the basis of the Swans for the best part of 20-something years.”
Paul Roos has been critical of Sydney’s season to date AFL Photos via Getty Images
Roos believes the Swans are too reliant on star midfielders Isaac Heeney and Chad Warner.
“I don’t think there is a team in the competition that relies so heavily on two players — Isaac Heeney and Chad Warner,” the 2005 premiership coach said.
“If Isaac Heeney is stopped it’s really hard for the Swans to win and when he gets going, you talk about (Marcus) Bontempelli and (Nick) Daicos. I don’t think there is a player who impacts his team as much as Isaac impacts the Swans.”
It doesn’t get any easier for the Swans, who travel north to face Gold Coast in round seven, before taking on GWS in round eight.
