Swans senior coach Dean Cox has heaped praise on superstar and off-contract midfielder Chad Warner for his performance against his home-town side on Sunday.
Warner electrified the Perth crowd with a sensational final term as Sydney snatched victory from the jaws of defeat against Fremantle with a late goal from key forward Joel Amartey. He finished the thriller with a team-high 26 disposals and led the game for metres gained with 727.
"That's when you need your best players to stand up, that's what they do," Cox said. "I thought [Warner's] impact in the last quarter was profound. There were some moments that everyone had across the ground and you need them to win away from home."
However, Swans fans would have been thrilled with Warner's antics as the game wound down. During the final siren celebrations, Warner pulled at his red and white guernsey, perhaps making a statement about the many headlines swirling ahead of a potentially lucrative return to Western Australia for the 23-year-old in the upcoming off-season.
Moments before, Warner also got stuck into Dockers recruit Shai Bolton after winning a late free kick, showing there was little love on the field.
"He's a passionate person, he's passionate about the footy club," Cox said of the moment.
"I want to make sure Chad plays his best footy for this football club and he enjoys his time while he's here. Hopefully that is for longer, you want to keep your best players and Chad is one of those. [His contract extension] is a process we will continually work through, but he is passionate and loves this footy club and his teammates."
Cox, a legendary Western Australian footballer in his own regard as a premiership ruckman for the West Coast Eagles, was humble when asked about his first senior coaching victory but noted the full circle moment with the win in his home state.
"It is a bit different when you get your first one," Cox said. "I would have loved to have it Round 0, but we've played three really strong football teams.
"In the first two games we had positions in the game to win it, we didn't quite get it done but tonight we did.
"So I'm just rapt for the players who get to experience their first win of the season."
Cox was pleased with James Jordon's continued excellence in the tagger role, holding Caleb Serong to just 19 touches while having 24 of his own to go along with a game-high 10 clearances.
"[Jordon's] ability to be able focus, stay on task, to knock over key playmakers for the opposition, even if you start with [tagging] or go to it throughout a game, he can just switch," Cox told media on Sunday night.
"I love having those players on our team. There's a reason we got him to the football club and the players love playing with him. He's had a couple of good jobs and he's had a massive say on the result of the game.
"I want to make sure we're a hard two-way team. We want to instil in our young players that's the way we want to play going forward. But when James does it, his ability to know when to step off his man and when to lock back on, he's as good as I've seen in a long time."
The Swans' win against Fremantle sees them enter their early-season bye with some form, as they look two weeks ahead, playing North Melbourne on Saturday, April 5.
