Sydney coach Dean Cox has praised three-game mature-aged recruit Riley Bice for his arguably best-on-ground performance against North Melbourne on Saturday night.
Bice had his best game yet after two influential outings to begin 2025, recording 12 disposals in just 31 per cent game time in his debut match as the substitute, before icing the game against Fremantle in Round 3, recording 14 disposals in that encounter.
The 24-year-old went to new heights against North Melbourne however, recording 26 disposals, 15 marks, and seven score involvements in the Swans' 65-point win.
Recruited out of the VFL from Werribee, Bice has continued the trend of Werribee's 'footy factory', following in the footsteps of Geelong's Shaun Mannagh and Melbourne's Aidan Johnson.
Cox said that despite Harry Cunningham and Justin McInerney pushing for selection in their injury returns, Bice has "warranted" holding his spot in the side.
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"The way he's playing, I think he certainly warrants that," Cox said.
"I think the thing with Riley is ever since he got to the football club, he's wanted to learn and get as fit and as conditioned as he possibly can for AFL level.
"He had a great season last year, at Werribee. To his credit, when he got here, he was head down, worked as hard as he possibly could and wanted to learn and be a sponge."
Cox commended Bice's two-way running, driving the defensive standards the Sydney coach aimed to implement in his first season at the helm, as well as chiselling, accurate kicks that helped the Swans take the game on.
"He's defending well first, that's the good part about the way he's playing," Cox said.
"And then his two-way efforts, to be able to counter with the ball in hand. We know that's one of his strengths, but he's doing it both ways at the minute, which is really good.
"That's the way he plays. We speak to players about the options that they can take. Some people have a little bit more of a license than others, and Riley's one of those.
"To be able to execute the way he does, he sees the game really well and for me, it's about if you see it, hit it, back yourself in.
"So far, he's doing it really well."
Sitting inside the top eight on Sunday morning, a win against Collingwood in Gather Round on Friday night would solidify the Swans in the top half of the table, and give the club its third win in a row, after a tough 0-3 beginning to the season.
