Sydney's reserves side had its first taste of match play for 2026, with a pre-season hit out against North Shore Bombers last Friday night.

Speaking to Sydney Swans Media, VFL Head Coach Nick Malceski said the team's defensive pressure was pleasing, three weeks out from Round One. 

"I think the main thing we got out of it was roles and structure, we haven't played many practice matches, we've only got the two, so I think if we can nail that prior to Box Hill then we'll be in good stead to be competitive in that game," Malceski said. 

"Our contest was very good, this side was built on contest and I want to really drive that this year and I thought our team defence was pretty good for the majority of the day.

"We kept them to one goal, which was off a 100m penalty, so in terms of that, that was pretty good. We got some good opportunities the other way, especially when we went around their defensive bubble."

The Swans ran out winners by 97-point winners, with a number of AFL-listed players impressing.

"Will Edwards played really well, I mean, most guys played apart, so I thought Will down back was really solid," Malceski said.

"We had Hammer (Joel Hamling) who was pretty solid, and Snelly (Patrick Snell) down there as well, Harry Kyle's played in a different role that he hasn't played yet, so he's learning that role.

"We actually moved Hammer forward, kicked a couple of goals in the last quarter, which apparently he did last year, we had the three guys, Lads (Peter Ladhams) , Greenie (Will Green) ruck and Hayden (McLean) had seven shots, so everyone had their piece of the pie and will hopefully improve each week."

The match was also an opportunity for Malceski to see the VFL-listed players in action, with several new additions to the squad this year.

New Swans Charlie Peters, from the Casey Demons, and Kaden Harbour, from Western Australia, caught Malceski's eye in their first appearance for the red and white.

"Charlie Peters, who's one of our leaders, he played pretty well as well as Kaden Harbour from Perth," Malceski said.

"It was Kaden's first game since July last year, where he ripped his hamstring off the bone, he had quite an impact."

Sydney will take on GWS in a practice match at Tom Wills Oval on Saturday at 9.30am.