Sydney believe they have addressed their SCG woes from 2018 as they prepare to host Adelaide, another AFL opening round loser.
The Crows failed to build on a promising pre-season by suffering a 32-point home defeat against Hawthorn while Sydney lost by 17 to the Western Bulldogs in Melbourne.
Collingwood proved last season that you can still have a great year after a 0-2 start, but the pressure and question marks will certainly increase for the loser of Friday’s game.
Sydney need to re-establish the fear factor for sides coming to the SCG after winning just five of 12 games there last year.
“Home grounds are a massive thing, it’s one thing the Swans had for a really long period of time and we probably went away from that a little bit last year,” Sydney’s midfield coach Dean Cox told AAP on Thursday.
Cox was coy when asked what measures had been employed, but was confident the Swans would thrive against the Crows despite spending less time training at the venue due to a ground share arrangement with rugby and league.
“We looked through some reasons why (the Swans struggled) and hopefully we can put them into place,” he said.
“There was just some little areas that we want to continue to improve. We’ve trained here the last few weeks to try and rectify that.
“It’s a focus to make it a tough environment to come to, to get back to playing the footy and the brand you want at home in front of your home crowd,.”
Adelaide was among the visiting teams to storm the Swans fortress last season, winning by 10 points in round five.
“We’ve got a pretty good record at the SCG, but it doesn’t count for an awful lot,” said Crows coach Don Pyke.
“She’s a tight comp and you don’t want to be 0-2.
“We have got a big challenge coming up against Sydney who are also in the same spot as us having lost last week.”
Adelaide have lost Richard Douglas and Tom Doedee to long term injuries, but Paul Seedsman is set to return from a finger injury after he missed round one.