IT HAD been a tough old debut season in the coach's chair for Dean Cox.

His Sydney side was beset by injuries and clinging to the outskirts of the top eight, effectively three games adrift of finals qualifications given Gold Coast had a match in hand.

The easy money was on Greater Western Sydney for the Sydney Derby, given the Giants wanted to push for a top-four spot.

But the Swans came out firing in the first half, jumping out to a highly unexpected 35-point lead.

It all fell in a heap by the final siren, GWS pulling out an almighty comeback to win by 44, but the fact remained – there was something different about this round 20 Swans outfit.

And while this year has seen Sydney defeating a battling Carlton and undermanned Brisbane, it has done so in blistering fashion, and the early seeds were planted in that round 20 game.

Shake down the handballs from the sky

It's a simple, somewhat risky but high-reward method: handball through zone defences and take the direct route down the middle.

Dean Cox has coached 25 matches.

All seven matches dating back to round 20 last year sit in the top 10 handball tallies recorded in his tenure, with this year's two games ranking first and second.

Games in bold fall between round 20 last year and round one this year

"The way we attack was something we tried towards the back end of last year," Cox said on Wednesday.

"Once we couldn't make finals, we said to the players that you never waste an opportunity. The opportunity was to try some different things, and we've done that at times throughout the game."

Handballing with intent

It's one thing to record a lot of handballs, it's another for it to result in effective and positive ball movement, rather than racking up the numbers because of panicked overuse of the footy under pressure.

Forget just under Dean Cox, the first two rounds of this year have seen the Swans record their two highest tallies of metres gained by hand since 2012, a period which includes an impressive five Grand Final appearances.

What it looks like

Think of them as the Slingshot Swans.

Sydney has been the number one ranked team for defensive-half ball movement through the corridor – it's quick and direct footy, with hand preferred nearly as much as foot, seeing a ratio of 1.12 kicks per handball (15th lowest).

Last year, Sydney recorded 1.49 kicks per handball. While a difference of 0.37 doesn't seem like much at all year-on-year, it's enough to see the Swans slide from fifth to their current 15th spot in league rankings for kick-to-handball differential.

Similarly, the 2025 Swans transitioned the ball along the boundary 43.7 per cent of the time, a figure that has dropped markedly so far this year to 33.3 per cent.

And it's not just by hand – they're also kicking the ball forward 92.6 per cent of the time (third overall), up from 87.1 (13th).

The blistering attack is only sustainable if it's supported by a sturdy and disciplined defence that doesn't switch off, as a turnover through the middle of the corridor can be lethal.

"The thing I've been most pleased about is the way we've defended the ground," Cox said.

"I think a lot of people will look at the attack our players have been on, but to restrict sides moving the ball, we've been really good at (it), and we're going to have to step that up again (on Thursday) night.

Scoring bursts and narrow fields

Sydney's scoring has come in waves, although it's safe to say Carlton also contributed somewhat to the third term onslaught in the Opening Round match between the two sides.

Quarter-by-quarter tallies

Both games came at the short and skinny SCG, and Thursday night against Hawthorn will be a test on the MCG, with significantly wider wings and longer lengths.

While there'll be a greater surface area to defend, there'll also be bigger gaps in the Hawks' own defence of which can be taken advantage.

"Most of the guys have played a bit of footy here," Cox said.

"We need to make sure we can control the ground as much as we possibly can, and what Hawthorn do with the way they move the ball, we've spoken about throughout the week.

"The dimensions change, the approach won't though."