AFTER a difficult 2024 season that was spent largely on the fringes, it was hard to tell just where Sam Wicks sat in the scheme of things at Sydney.

But a dramatic positional change as part of Dean Cox's desire for flexibility in his squad has seen the 25-year-old handed a lease of life in his AFL journey.

After 66 games across five seasons as a high-pressure forward, Wicks has been moved into the backline at the Swans this year and featured in every game as a small lockdown defender.

Come Saturday night at Marvel Stadium he may well have the task of trying to quell the influence of in-form Kangaroos livewire Paul Curtis.

 "It is a big change; it came about in my end of season review last year. The coaches asked how I felt about doing some training down back and I said I'd be open to it and then really loved it and the coaches loved having me there, so it's been a good fit," Wicks told AFL.com.au.

"One thing that's really helped me is knowing what a small forward likes and doesn't like from playing that role. If I can put little things into my game that opposition small forward's hate, it’ll help the team out."

Wicks' positional switch came at a time that his career was seemingly crying out for a circuit breaker.

His 2024 campaign was marred by injury, a four-week suspension and an internal drama that saw him sidelined for a game in round three.

John Longmire had backed and picked the Manly product more often than not, but perhaps a fresh set of coaching eyes and perspective on what he can bring to the Swans' set-up has been exactly what Wicks' career needed.

"It was obviously a bit of a tough year with suspension and form and other stuff, but I didn't really consider ever leaving, I just wanted to get my body right and put in a big pre-season and just attack this year with everything I’ve got and put it all behind me," he said.

"I might have been stuck in that forward role for a while, so it's been really nice learning new skills, there's been a refreshing aspect to it."

"I've known 'Coxy' for a while and worked with him, we get along very well. It's made the transition pretty easy for me because he's given me full faith to back myself and make mistakes and learn on the go."

There is still a feeling Sydney is trying to stabilise in the early stages of the Dean Cox era.

That will be tested further against an improving North away from home on Saturday night, especially without injured All-Australian forward Tom Papley to go with the continued absence of 2023 club champion Errol Gulden and captain Callum Mills.

But Wicks is confident the win over Fremantle before their bye last week has proven they're in a much better place than many had anticipated.

"The feel internally is that we weren’t in bad form, we put ourselves in good positions in the first two games (against Hawthorn and Brisbane) we just weren't able to get over the line.

"We've got a new coach and game plan but we feel like we’re heading in the right direction and doing the right things, we'll just keep backing in those processes," said Wicks.

"They deserve a lot of respect North, they're definitely trending upwards. We'll look at how we can take their strengths away."