Swans should be proud despite finals heartbreak: coach

Sydney coach Dean Cox has urged his side to be proud despite falling short of an AFL grand final berth, believing the Swans are steadily earning back trust and respect.

Overcome by fatigue in a preliminary final, an understrength Swans outfit let slip a game-high 28-point lead and lost 12.11 (83) to 10.11 (71) to Fremantle at the SCG.

Cox could only express his pride in his players' performance in front of 45,129 fans on Friday after the Swans had navigated the turmoil of last month's Pullman Hotel scandal.

Sydney were largely expected by the AFL world to exit finals in straight sets after five players were stood down for breaching club standards.

Isaac Heeney, Chad Warner and Nick Blakey - All-Australian contenders before they were banned - are among the five serving club-imposed bans.

James Jordon and Riley Bice are the other suspended Swans, with Sydney also without captain Callum Mills (knee) and fellow defender Harry Cunningham (calf).

Proud of how his side galvanised, Cox wouldn't accept the Swans had let an opportunity to end their 14-year premiership drought slip past them.

"It's hard to say it's a missed opportunity when you play a really good footy team," Cox said.

"Prelims are big games, and there's a lot at stake because there's a grand final next week.

"We missed the opportunity to take those moments to put ourselves in a grand final. That's why everyone's really disappointed.

"That will settle in the next few days about, 'Alright, yeah, we missed an opportunity to put ourselves into a position to play in a grand final'.

"But we should be really proud of also finishing second on the ladder and hosting a prelim and falling just short."

Cox hailed the grit of youngsters like Tom Hanily and Harry Kyle, refusing to dwell on the 'what ifs' of this year's finals campaign.

"I've tried to turn all my attention and my thought process to dealing with what's in front of me," Cox said.