Sydney senior coach Dean Cox spoke to the media on Thursday (June 26) about the side's upcoming clash against the Western Bulldogs at the SCG on Friday night.

Reflecting on the Port Adelaide win

“Our ability to be able to put Port under pressure when they got the ball, I think it was one of the lowest-intercept games an opposition team has had. So that speaks volumes about, first of all, us winning the ball back in certain areas of the ground, but even when we were caught deep in our back half, our ability to be able to win contests ahead of the ball, to not allow Port Adelaide to fuel position ascendancy. And that was a disappointing thing to come out of the game, but on top of that, the ability to get a lot of our other metrics right, certainly after Richmond and then a bye, to be able to practise some of that stuff and to the guys' credit, they played a really good game of footy, bar the finishing.”

On Chad Warner’s 100th game

“He's had an unbelievable 100 games. If you talk about some of the impact he's had on games throughout, those 100 have been at the highest level. And he's a player of enormous talent and does things that other people can't do on a football field. So hopefully for the next couple of hundred, he can showcase what he's done so far.”

On the Western Bulldogs

“What makes this game so great is that all different shapes and sizes can play it. And Sam's (Sam Darcy) been unbelievable for the Bulldogs. To what he does, to the highest point, to whether it's contested. Gets him on the lead. Can do multiple things around the ground as well. That's what makes him such a phenomenal talent. I think certainly the pressure up the ground, how it helps, that. But also when they're caught in slow play, it's a really easy, it's a strong focal point for them to kick to. So we need to make sure that we've got not only one player, or match-ups that are capable of trying to match him or restrict him as much as possible. But also we've got to have a team focus of where they get it, how they do it. And positions he can get to away from our defenders. So we spend a fair bit of time. It's not only about Sam, though. It's about the way they move. Aaron (Aaron Naughton) jumps at every ball that comes within 10 metres of his vicinity. So they're very dangerous ahead of the ball, hence their scoring power.”

On the role of taggers in the game

“Yeah, I think one thing we've always tried to do is to restrict what the opposition's strengths are, I think that's one thing you have to do as a football club. And we're fortunate we've got some players in our team whether it be James Rowbottom to do it or obviously James Jordon to do it in their own unique way. They understand, they spend a lot of time watching the opposition players, their tapes, about how can I nullify their influence as much as possible. It's a pleasure to have those guys, but also, we'll see some pretty exciting matchups this week as well.”

On Joel Amartey

“There's so much to take from it, we know he can kick goals. It's just about finding that form and momentum again and we're saying that throughout the game. The first part is to create opportunities and give them to yourself and Joel, we've had three players in the last five years take seven marks inside 50. He's done it twice, and Lance has done it once so that's the first part of the puzzle that we have wanted to get right. And to his credit, his ability to lead with the ball, the blocking off the ball, and the work for each other certainly allowed that. And then now it's about finishing off his work and before that game, he was above 70% from set shots. So people have days like that, it's about him trying to work on it throughout the week, which he's done.”

On Brodie Grundy

“He's been great for us through the last six or seven weeks, the assent he's given us around the contest, not only with his ruck stuff, his follow-up, but now his work behind the ball. Aerially, he's improved dramatically, he's having a real say in the way we perform. We expect he's up against Tim (English) who's another amazing ruck, and that should be a great battle. But we're going with a lot of confidence in what Brodie's done for the past month and a half.”

On maintaining the standard

“Part of it is trying to maintain elite standards at all times. We understand that at times things can waiver from that, so it's just about calling it out when it arises. It probably took a week or two too long, I think the bye certainly gives you a chance to reset and look at the whole program and what's actually happening, what we need to work on, and that's what we did. On top of that, we understand you have to train at a certain level to play at a certain level. The boys have improved in that area, which has been good.”

On Justin McInerney

“I've been really pleased, I think obviously throughout that suspension period there's an opportunity to really reflect on what he wants to do as a footballer and to Justin's credit, he's been unbelievable in where he wants to get to, where he wants to help the group get to. We had an opportunity to play our leadership group for the first time last week all together, so he has a big say in that. And he's performed really well and needs to have a big second half of the year.”

On improving as a side

“I think the players have a lot of confidence in that if we play the way we need to, we're good enough to match it against most teams. And we get a huge challenge Friday night against one of the in form teams. So that's about the players having confidence, they've still got belief in what they can do is right and good enough but we've got to put it to action now.”

On Friday night lights

"I think to represent the footy club on a Friday night and also obviously at the SCG is a pretty special feeling against an outfit that is in very, very good form so really excited by the challenge and testing ourselves against one of the best.”

Tickets are still on sale for Friday night's match against the Western Bulldogs. Tickets available here.