Sydney Swans Assistant Coach Ben Mathews spoke to media after the Swans 51-point match simulation win over GWS at Moore Park on Friday afternoon.

On current injuries:

Callum Mills has plantar fasciitis, he is a test for next week, he trained this morning and has trained this week. He will be a test for next week against the Gold Coast. There's no risk needed at this time of the year. It's one of those niggly ones, it's mild, we are pretty confident with it and we won't take any risks either.

Papley is managing his ankle, he rolled it in the intra club, he will be fine. He's running, he's moving well, we are pretty confident in the body of work he has done in preseason.

Cunningham: Sprained a ligament in his foot, tests and scans on that, he is in a boot for a week, we will reasses when the results come back.

Major takeouts from the match simulation:

It was a pretty good hit-out for both teams, we had some shining lights up forward, Braeden Campbell performed his role as a high half forward really well, Joel Amartey got himself into some good form, they were really positive.

Off half back we had individuals like Ollie Florent, hopefully he takes another step for us (in 2025), he was very, very solid last year so we will see how he can keep building. Matty Roberts was really good too. 

Then there's a couple of younger guys like Sheldrick and Corey Warmer, they were positive for our group too.

We probably let the Giants through a little bit in the first quarter from their defensive end but after quarter time we tidied that up.

On the midfield

We are really trying to get minutes into as much as our main squad as we possibly can. We only have the two practice games and no week off in between so we have to manage the minutes we get into our player efficiently and effectively so they make sure they are alright for Opening Round. We are also conscious we need to get minutes into players like Gus Sheldrick so they keep improving.

Behind the ball we were really pleased. Lewis Melican has had a great preseason, he certainly planted himself as a really good key defender in the competition and we want him to keep going with that. Nick Blakey also played taller on the keys today, and a little deeper than his usual role. We thought Tommy McCartin competed really well up forward.

On Dean Cox's first game as Senior Coach

He was calm, he is a clear decision maker and communicator. He's been great over the whole preseason since he stepped into the role and the players know him well, it's been really good.