Have the scars of 2022 healed for the Swans?

Both Sydney and Brisbane are looking to avenge recent Grand Final losses when the sides meet in 2024’s decider at the MCG on Saturday.

While the two sides are the previous two Grand Final losers, Brisbane’s effort on the big stage was far better than Sydney’s, with the Lions going down to the Magpies 90-86 last year, while the Swans were thrashed 133-52 by Geelong in 2022.

With the scars from Grand Final day perhaps bigger for John Longmire’s side, some are pondering if it will still affect them in 2024.

SEN’s David King doesn’t hold those concerns and he thinks that the midfield in particular - which was smashed by Geelong 24 months ago - is ready to step up in a big way this time around.

“I heard Chad Warner talk after the game (Preliminary Final win) to us on Fox and he said, ‘We know what the difference between a Prelim and what a Grand Final is, the ferocity and the intensity just ramps up and we got smacked in 2022’,” King said on SEN Whateley.

“He said, ‘We were taught a lesson on what the gap between what we thought we could bring and get away with to be competitive with as opposed to what Geelong did’.

“In that first half against Geelong, it was 6.4 (40) to 0.2 (2) points from clearance and he talked about Dangerfield and the way he started that game and he just ripped them apart.

“Now, I know they're two years older and a little bit more experienced and have a different midfield mix.

“But I get the sense that they have been ready for this, to get another opportunity to come back and say, ‘We are better than we showed you last time’.

“This midfield, I think, is ready to step up.”

Collingwood great Nathan Buckley is also of the belief that this Sydney side is more ready to perform on the big stage two years on after failing against the Cats.

He discussed how those scars might have healed with Kane Cornes on SEN Breakfast despite the team being quite similar to the one that lost in 2022.

Cornes: “I remember speaking to players after that, it might have been Luke Parker, about how they reviewed that performance and how they went about that.

“They did it forensically at the time and they looked at it all such as the week leading up to it.

“They've spoken about it since just about and and John Longmire said that they’re about living in the moment and taking it in.

“But are there any scars due to the start of that game in 2022 for the players that were there?”

Buckley: “Yeah, but it's healed up now. Absolutely it is.

“We'll see evidence of how well it's healed and whether there's any weak spots because the Lions will press.

“When you look back on that Sydney side, I think there's seven players different from that from that 2022 Grand Final that were in last week’s Prelim side.

“I think those wounds heal. If it doesn't kill you, it makes you stronger.

“I think the Sydney side are more ready to perform on the big stage than they were two years ago.”

Saturday’s Grand Final between Sydney and Brisbane at the MCG begins at 2:30pm (AEST).