• Grand Final scorecard: Every Swans player rated
• Grand Final scorecard: Every Hawk player rated
• Ten things we learned from the Grand Final
DESPITE the manner of their defeat to Hawthorn in Saturday's Grand Final, Sydney Swans chairman Andrew Pridham is confident they have the team that can win next year's premiership.
Totally outplayed to the tune of 63 points in a one-sided decider at the MCG that few saw coming, the question quickly turns to the Swans' ability to compete again next year.
Ryan O'Keefe and Lewis Roberts-Thomson have retired, while the future of dual Brownlow medallist Adam Goodes remains up in the air.
The Swans still have a raft of top talent at their disposal that should keep them competitive for years to come.
Luke Parker, Harry Cunningham, Jake Lloyd and Dane Rampe were among those to impress during the year, although not on Grand Final day.
Lance Franklin, Dan Hannebery, Kieren Jack and Nick Smith, all current or former All Australians, also have many years of good football ahead of them.
It seems from the outside, however, that the Swans' stocks of key defenders and ruckmen could do with some reinforcement.
Rather than looking at any wholesale changes to the list, Pridham told AFL.com.au he was confident the Swans can compete at the very top of the competition again in 2015.
"The bottom line is, we were the best team all year, in terms of finishing top of the table," Pridham said at the Swans' post-Grand Final function.
"There's nothing wrong with the team.
"They're a very good group that had a bad day.
"I'm confident next year we'll come back bigger, better and stronger."
The Swans came into the match as heavy favourites, but quickly found themselves trailing by 20 points at quarter-time and were never able to recover.
Pridham could only dip his hat to a Hawks outfit that was streets ahead on the day.
"Hawthorn were fantastic," he said.
"I thought they were just magnificent the way they played the game.
"They were white-hot and we were off our game.
"All credit to them, you have to do it on the day."
