Sydney’s once reliable game style is in serious need of a sprucing up from coach John Longmire. Photo: GETTY IMAGES

SYDNEY
2018 record: 14 wins, 9 losses (7th)
List age ranking (oldest to youngest): 11th
List experience ranking (most to fewest games): 6th
Footyology draw ranking (easiest to hardest): eq.7th

THE INS
Daniel Menzel (Geelong), Jackson Thurlow (Geelong), Ryan Clarke (North Melbourne), Nick Blakey (UNSW-ES), James Rowbottom (Oakleigh Chargers), Justin McInerney (Northern Knights), Zac Foot (Dandenong Stingrays), Durak Tucker (Peel Thunder), Harry Reynolds (Sandringham Dragons), Samuel Wicks (Sydney NEAFL)

THE OUTS
Dan Hannebery (St Kilda), Gary Rohan (Geelong), Nic Newman (Carlton), Alex Johnson (delisted), Dean Towers (delisted), Jordan Foote (delisted), Angus Styles (delisted), Jake Brown (delisted), Dan Robinson (delisted), Harrison Marsh (delisted)

THE BEST 22
B: Jarrad McVeigh, Heath Grundy, Dane Rampe
HB: Jake Lloyd, Aliir Aliir, Callum Mills
C: Isaac Heeney, Josh Kennedy, Harry Cunningham
HF: Will Hayward, Sam Reid, Tom Papley
F: Ben Ronke, Lance Franklin, Daniel Menzel
R: Callum Sinclair, Luke Parker, George Hewett
Inter: Nick Smith, Lewis Melican, Sam Naismith, Kieren Jack
Emerg: Zak Jones, Oliver Florent, Ryan Clarke, Tom McCartin

THE PROGNOSIS
It’s become an annual football ritual. Every pre-season, the pundits catalogue all the reasons Sydney, after a run of constant finals appearances spanning two decades, is about to fall from the perch.

Seemingly every year, the Swans make a mockery of the prophets of doom. So (potentially) here we go again. But it’s getting harder to keep the faith.

Sydney topped the ladder with 17 wins and was four goals away from a flag just three seasons ago. In 2017, it won 14 games and a final before being tipped out in week two of September. Last year, it was 14 wins again but a first-week finals thumping.

But it was the manner in which 2018 tailed off which was most concerning. In a complete reversal of 2017, when the Swans’ hideous start was overcome, this time it was the finish which was the issue.

From sitting third on the ladder with 10 wins from 13 after a victory over eventual premier West Coast, the Swans would then lose six of their last 10 games.

Two of those defeats – against Essendon by 43 points in round 19, and against crosstown rival GWS by 49 points in the elimination final – looked ominous indeed, Sydney looking one-dimensional in attack, where it was Lance Franklin or bust, and exposed badly for pace on the outside.

What has also been a huge asset, the home ground advantage of the SCG, bizarrely became last season a liability, the Swans losing seven of 12 games at the ground, including, incredibly, a defeat at the hands of the hapless Gold Coast.

What will it take to defy the critics once again? Well, it’s hard not to conclude a once reliable game style is in serious need of a sprucing up from coach John Longmire.

Even in its best years, Sydney has conceded its share of opposition forward entries, but always proved very adept at denying scores from them. That changed markedly last season. Only Gold Coast conceded more forward entries than the Swans, and Sydney slipped to a ranking of only seventh for conceding scores from those opposition entries.

Defending those entries in 2019 should be easier with the presence of two costly losses through injury last season, Callum Mills and Lewis Melican, though Mills may end up spending a lot more time midfield.

And greater run from that midfield group has to be a priority. While the Swans remain worthy in the clinches at stoppages, they were found sadly lacking last season once the ball emerged from those clearances.

Up forward, the obvious issue is the over-reliance upon Franklin. In the 19 games he played last season, Franklin was responsible for 25 per cent of Sydney’s goals, the highest figure of any player in the competition.

While the Swans have several ground-level goalkicking options, and now former Cat Dan Menzel, it’s two big men who could help most in this regard.

One, obviously, is injury-plagued key forward Sam Reid, who played just one game last year. The other is ruckman Sam Naismith, out for the entirety of 2018. His return would not only give the vastly-improved Callum Sinclair a chop-put at the ball-ups, but allow Sinclair to make more use of his proven ability as a key forward goalkicker.

Those pieces in place would at least give Sydney every chance of thumbing its nose at the sceptics once again.

THE PREDICTION
11th. They’ve made fools of us all before, but the signs of an imminent Sydney decline have been more pronounced this time around. Can still mix it with the big boys, as an 8-4 record against top eight teams last year showed. But can they do it consistently?

THE LADDER SO FAR (click on team to read)
11. SYDNEY
12. BRISBANE LIONS
13. PORT ADELAIDE
14. WESTERN BULLDOGS
15. FREMANTLE
16. CARLTON
17. ST KILDA
18. GOLD COAST