MELBOURNE coach Steven King admitted that losing Brody Mihocek to a hamstring injury triggered a disruptive reshuffle, yet the club prioritised caution to minimise his time on the sidelines. 

The marquee recruit was forced off in the opening term after straining the muscle while tackling Sydney's Lewis Melican. 

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At 33 years of age, Mihocek is no stranger to soft-tissue setbacks, having missed significant football with a similar injury in 2024.

Providing a post-match update, King noted the veteran felt "awareness" early and was immediately iced to prevent further damage.

"He felt an awareness of his hamstring early in the first quarter... in that lunging tackle," King said. 

"Once that happens, you don't send him back out there to see if he can do it properly or not. Hopefully, it's just at the minor end."

Despite the 17-point loss, King commended his side's refusal to yield, citing their late-game tenacity as a core value.

He acknowledged the contest "could have easily got away from us" when Sydney pushed the lead to 34 points, but losing Mihocek early remained a "disappointing" blow to their structure.

"He's a key part of our front half, and the way we set up the ground ahead of the ball, and that made us make some other moves — but that's the game," King said. 

"Max Heath stepped up and spent more time in the ruck, and Max Gawn had to go forward a bit more. So, we just dealt with it. 

"Obviously, it's not ideal, but hopefully it's not too significant and he'll only miss a short period of time, but I would have loved to have had 'Checkers' us out there for four quarters today, that's for sure."

Mihocek's absence forced Jacob van Rooyen and Heath to play as primary targets, leaving Heath to shoulder the brunt of the ruck load against a dominant Brodie Grundy. 

King viewed the SCG pressure as a pivotal lesson, emphasising that lapses against elite teams lead to instant punishment.

"We were down to four (on the bench). What can we do to stretch them ahead of the ball without that power?," he said. 

King was pleased with Heath's form, noting that while Grundy's experience provided territory dominance, the young ruck would "take a lot out of that experience".

"There was a centre bounce game today; they scored out of there, and so did we. Some pure hits that we got looked dangerous, and then likewise, with (Brodie) Grundy's experience, he was able to surge the ball and get territory from there as well. But it was a great experience for Max Heath today," he said.

"I thought he was perhaps unlucky (to concede) a couple of free kicks where he was trying to battle for front position and the ball probably didn't quite go where he thought it might have, but he'll take a lot out of that experience today."

Meanwhile, Swans counterpart Dean Cox balanced praise for Sydney's dominance with frustration over failing to ice the game earlier. 

While acknowledging Melbourne's late surge, Cox conceded the Demons' 21 final-term inside-50s made for a nervous finish, though he credited his side's composure under pressure.

"I'm not rapt with (conceding) seven goals, four in the last quarter," he said.

"But as a coach, you're looking at things really finely, and it's really important to acknowledge the wins… because they're very hard fought and they're not going to look the same all the time."

Cox added that while Grundy's fitness was a genuine concern pre-match, the club will manage the veteran moving forward through open communication and adjusted training loads week-to-week.