Chad Warner Reveals WA Lean Before Re-Signing With Sydney

Chad Warner said he was probably leaning toward going back home to Western Australia before he re-signed with the Sydney Swans in April 2025. The midfielder, who was an All-Australian and finished 11th in the Brownlow Medal before that deal, said Dean Cox’s openness helped keep him in Sydney.

Warner and Cox

Warner said the conversation with Cox was direct. “Coxy, obviously he wanted me to stay more than ever. And we talked so openly about it,” he said while discussing the contract call that kept him at Sydney.

He also said he had not settled on whether he would return to West Coast or Fremantle before choosing the Swans. “My time in Sydney, I absolutely loved it. But I always kind of saw myself probably going back around that time,” he said.

Coogee and Applecross

For Warner, the pull back to Perth was not just football-related. He said he missed home every year while living in Sydney and found apartment life in Coogee tougher than the big blocks in Perth.

That feeling sat alongside a more practical marker of where he saw his future. Warner bought a house in Applecross last January, and when he told Cox about it, he joked that the media could get hold of it.

Next contract window

Warner turned 25 on Tuesday and said he always thought he would eventually return to Perth, either after his career or during it. For now, the lucrative two-year deal signed in April 2025 keeps him at Sydney, but he said he would be open to a move again when he comes out of contract at the end of next season.

That leaves Sydney with a star midfielder who was already one of the club’s biggest pieces when he stayed, after helping lead the Swans into a grand final. It also means the WA clubs that tracked him in 2025 know another decision is already on the horizon.