SYDNEY'S season-ending defeat to the cross-town Giants in their SCG elimination final last year highlighted the Swans' shortcomings in gory detail.
They lost the inside-50 count by 24 and had the ball in their forward 50 for an incredible 20 fewer minutes.
The latter was the second-worst differential in any game of the 2018 season, leaving Sydney minus-6:39 on average for the year (ranked 15th).
The Swans' inside-50 differential was a similarly poor minus-5.7 overall (15th), ending a seven-year streak in the black in that category.
The end result on that difficult, wet Saturday afternoon was a 49-point caning – and an inexplicable seventh defeat in 12 starts at what was once their home fortress.
Exacerbating those forward woes was that Sydney ranked 17th in the home and away season for both forward-50 clearances and intercepts.
However, of interest was when the Swans did win a rare inside-50 clearance they were No.1 for converting it into a score and ranked eighth after an intercept.
Sam Reid's absence explains some of this, as does Lance Franklin's many and varied ailments, and the fact his support crew consisted of 20-and-unders Tom McCartin, Will Hayward, Ben Ronke and 22-year-old Tom Papley.
It's partly why Sydney took a punt on oft-injured ex-Cat Daniel Menzel, who adds experience and counters his defensive deficiencies with being one of the AFL's most gifted offensive players.
Coach John Longmire offered more reasons for the uninspiring numbers in an exclusive chat with AFL.com.au this week.
"There was a number of things involved in it, (including) whether it was our hit-outs or our exits from defensive 50," Longmire said.
"It's not just stats, and you've got to be careful just pulling out a stat.
"We didn't get the ball out of our back half as efficiently as we wanted to, so therefore that put not only pressure on our inside 50s, but our repeats against, so they're areas we need to get a bit better at."
Sam Naismith's season-long absence thrust mobile tall forward Callum Sinclair into the ruck, coinciding with Sydney coming in 16th overall for hit-outs and hit-outs to advantage.
Naismith and the Swans hope the 206cm ruckman returns inside the opening six rounds of this year, releasing Sinclair to play more as a marking target.
Another issue was Sydney's inability to win contested possession in general play, with 2012 premiership stars Josh Kennedy, Dan Hannebery and Kieren Jack slumping to seven-year lows.
Hannebery's departure for St Kilda was best for both parties, given the Swans plan to address this problem with more opportunities for youngsters such as Isaac Heeney, Callum Mills and Ollie Florent.
George Hewett will have a big say in correcting the balance, too, on top of Sydney's recruiting team targeting "hybrid" inside-outside midfielders in recent drafts.
"It's not just about who's in the centre – it's that midfield group. It's the half-backs and half-forwards, who all play those important roles," Longmire said.
"Mills and (Zak) Jones will still flow through half-back at times if we need to and Florent will play inside and outside."
