Former West Coast assistant coach Tony Micale has piled on praise for Dean Cox following his appointment as Sydney’s new head coach in 2025.
On Tuesday, John Longmire, the longest serving Sydney Swans head coach, announced he would be stepping down from the role after 14 years at the helm, handing the reins to his assistant.
Longmire will be transitioning into a new role as Club Performance Executive Director, while Cox steps up from assistant to head coach for the next four years.
Speaking on SportFM, Micale commended the way the handover between Longmire and Cox was handled and the current system at the Swans.
“You could just feel it yesterday in the press conference, how close they all are from the chairman down and the way that they’ve dealt with this situation,” he said.
“They’ve given Longmire all the respect that he deserves and he’s made the final decision. There’s no angst, no animosity in the way and this is very much so and probably led by Paul Roos going back is that this handover will be will be clean.
“Longmire will still be involved in the club and he’ll do great work in that new space of high performance and and and they’ll work harmoniously without any doubt for the betterment of the club.
“They’re just wonderfully organized, they have quality people in key positions that are very strategic and imaginative.”
The former West Coast Eagles premiership ruckman has an impressive resume himself, having won a flag as a player in 2006, but also being in the coaches’ box during two Grand Finals while at Sydney.
However, he also witnessed the heartbreak of the 2022 and 2024 Grand Finals for Sydney, as they suffered two massive defeats by 81 and 60 points against Geelong and Brisbane.
Micale – Cox’s first WAFL coach, says he is confident Cox has all the attributes to bring success in his new role at the Swans.
“He’s got footy smarts and most of all, the thing about you love about Coxy that people probably don’t know is he’s a people’s person. He’s got a bit of larrikin in him,” he said.
“You heard Longmire say yesterday that he may come across in the media as a hard line coach but behind closed doors they’ve got that soft edge and they’ve got that that affinity with their players and Coxy’s got that.
“His players will give him a hundred percent, there’s no doubt about that… I guess the only disappointment that they could say through the era with Longmire and Coxy at the helm is the grand finals.
“A couple of those grand finals that turned out, that’s not that’s not the Sydney Bloods culture and I’m absolutely certain that that’s something that you’ll see tighten up with Dean.”
Earlier this season, Cox’s name was heavily associated with the vacant position at West Coast following Adam Simpson’s departure later in the year.
Cox had been approached by his former club however, he rejected those advances – opting to stay at Sydney, rather than make the move back to WA.
“He’s certainly in a great club and you can understand the decision that he’s made, particularly with Sydney playing off in the grand final this year,” said Micale.
“He’s got a little bit of work to do there, but the thing that I love about him and what, looking forward to seeing is the brand of football that they deliver.
“They played some really, really exciting football through the course of the year and hopefully that continues on.
“I’m sure we’ll see an attacking brand of football, the way Dean played. He revolutionised the ruckman’s role in terms of mobility for that size of ruckman.”
IMAGE: Fox Sports