SYDNEY coach Dean Cox believes Isaac Heeney has had as strong a season as anyone in the competition, insisting his gun player hasn't received as many plaudits as last year simply due to the club's ladder position.

Heeney's five goals in the win over Brisbane on Saturday took him up to 35 majors for the season, a remarkable tally for a player who is still predominantly a midfielder.

His Gabba performance was his third five-goal haul in seven weeks to have him eight majors clear of Will Hayward and highly likely to win the Swans' leading goalkicking award for 2025.

He's set to jostle strongly with Brodie Grundy for back-to-back club champion awards as well and his coach says a third All-Australian blazer for Heeney is a no-brainer.

"I've looked at stats of players that are being talked about in the All-Australian team and All-Australian captains, Isaac's had as good a year as all of them," Cox said.

"Unfortunately, we haven't won enough games for a specific player to be spoken about. He's been phenomenal for our footy club. Not many players can do what he does in the midfield and then go forward and turn a game as well.

"I think the entire AFL industry admires what Isaac can do on a football field but as soon as you're not in the top couple of teams you don't get spoken about as frequently. That doesn't mean that he hasn't had the year he had last year."

Heeney and the Swans have the chance to account for both of their Grand Final conquerors in the last three years by taking the scalp of Geelong at the SCG on Sunday to go with that of the Lions.

That task will be made far more difficult without their superstar ruckman in Grundy through concussion with Cox confirming Peter Ladhams will be tasked with filling those sizeable boots.

Justin McInerney also goes out with a knee injury but Hayward is set to return from a calf injury after training strongly on the weekend for a game that will see Nick Blakey bring up his 150th appearance and Lewis Melican his 100th.

Blakey's milestone could well be marked with the assignment of trying to quell Jeremy Cameron with the Cats superstar still a chance of reaching 100 goals by the end of the finals series.

"Nick's played some really important roles on players who do play high whether they're dangerous key forwards or medium types that get up the ground as well – Jezza sits in between both of those," Cox said.

"The dynamism of him, the potency he creates by getting up the ground and then turning back to goal it's the reason he's leading the Coleman not just by sitting in the square all the time."

Sydney's finals hopes were dashed three weeks ago but it has now won seven of its last nine games after key players in Errol Gulden, Callum Mills and Tom Papley in patches slotted back into the team from injury.

Sunday's clash against the Cats presents another opportunity to show that they are side that can still match it with the very best in the competition and bounce straight back up as a strong premiership contender next season.

But that also comes with the annoyance of what might have been this year.

"There's a bit of frustration and disappointment that we're not playing finals. That's what we start every year chasing and the reality is we can't do that. Once we found that out it was deflating, it's what the players strive so hard to get to," Cox said.

"We'll reflect when the season finishes why we didn't get there. There are a number of things we need to work on. We needed to work on them in the back half of the year but also the pre-season as well."