Dean Cox warned against 'disrespectful' move that could 'derail' Sydney Swans' AFL season

Just days before Dean Cox revealed he won't be pursuing the West Coast coaching job, one of the leading journalists in Perth urged him to publicly declare whether or not he was interested. Cox was thought to be the front-runner to become the Eagles' next coach, but bombshell reports emerged this week that he wants to stay at the Sydney Swans and take over from John Longmire in the future.

Cox is an Eagles legend and helped them win the 2006 premiership, but has been working in the Swans' coaching system since 2017. On Monday night, leading journalist Tom Morris reported that Cox sees himself as the Swans' next head coach - not the Eagles' - and those reports proved to be on the money.

Longmire stated on Tuesday that Cox is committed to helping the Swans go all the way in 2024, and the 42-year-old hadn't given any indication which way he was leaning at that stage. And that led Tim Gossage to implore Cox to publicly declare whether he wanted the Eagles job or not.

“I think Dean Cox has a role to play in the next 24 to 48 hours, a significant part of the footy landscape going forward,” Gossage said on SEN radio in Perth on Tuesday. “I think Dean Cox must come out and make a comment about his coaching future now.

“There is no written contract between Sydney and Dean Cox, or John Longmire and Dean Cox. There is none. There is an expectation that they want Dean Cox to stay. If John Longmire doesn’t coach on past 2025 or coaches on for three more years they still want Dean Cox to be the next coach.

“So the onus goes back onto Dean Cox to decide whether he stays as 2IC (second in charge) and knock back any other opportunities, ie, West Coast. For me, if Dean Cox is hellbent on standing firm in his position as a senior assistant at Sydney. He should come out right now and end all the speculation for him, for Sydney, for Sydney fans, for the Eagles, for the Eagles fans. I think that Dean holds the whip hand. The more he’s silent it lends itself to speculation.”

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David Schwarz disagrees on what Dean Cox should do

But according to Melbourne great David Schwarz, a declaration from Cox could have a destabilising effect on the Swans for the rest of this season. Schwarz thought Cox would be coaching the Eagles in 2025 and it might affect the trust he has with Swans players if he said he wanted to leave.

“I think it would be disrespectful for Dean Cox to come out straight away and give his intentions,” Schwarz said. “There’s no doubt his management behind the scenes is speaking to the right people and whilst they’ve got a finals campaign on the line I reckon Dean Cox has too much class to say, ‘Yep, I’m putting my hand up' until this job is done with Sydney.

“But behind the scenes I wouldn’t be surprised if he’s signalled his intentions that if a job was available he will be putting his hand up. I reckon that if he was staying at Sydney that would have already been announced.

“He’s got to play his cards close to his chest and he’s got to do it behind the scenes because he is the sort of person who has honour, he’s not going to crap all over Sydney whilst they’ve got their best chance of playing in a grand final and possibly winning one until the time is right.

“He’d be speaking with ‘Horse’ (Longmire) and the Sydney hierarchy in exactly that. They just don’t need anything to ruffle feathers. The last thing you want is a bloke walking into the change rooms knowing that he’s going somewhere else. It affects the trustworthiness within the group and I reckon only bad things can happen.

“If they play behind the scenes and say they’re going to make the decision after Sydney’s campaign is over, so be patient and we will make that decision at the time. But we’re not being disrespectful to a club that he’s been involved with for over a decade.

“Sydney aren’t going to blow up a finals campaign for Dean Cox for the sake of telling a few reporters four weeks earlier than what they need to. I reckon it could derail Sydney because there will be players aligned to Dean Cox that have his trust that he’s working with on a daily basis. I just wouldn’t upset the applecart and I don’t think Sydney would. They’re too professional, they’re too smart and they’ll deal with it.”