Chad Warner has revealed he was close to leaving Sydney for Western Australia last year, saying he was leaning toward a move to either West Coast or Fremantle before Dean Cox helped turn him back toward the Swans.
The 25-year-old, who turned 25 on Tuesday, said he had not yet made a final call between the two WA clubs and was probably leaning toward heading home before recommitting to Sydney on a lucrative two-year deal in April last year. The midfielder said he always expected that Perth would eventually come back into the picture, whether during his career or after it ended.
Warner’s comments, due to air on Seven’s Unfiltered on Wednesday night, land after a season in which he was named an All-Australian, finished 11th in the Brownlow Medal and led Sydney into a grand final. That made him one of the biggest off-contract names in the game heading into 2025, with clubs in Western Australia understood to have been watching closely.
But Warner said the pull of home was only part of the story. He described life in Sydney as something he had grown to love, even if the move had never fully shaken the sense that he might one day return to Perth. He said he missed home every year and sometimes found apartment living in Coogee difficult compared with the large blocks he knew in Perth. He and his partner, Alice, adjusted to life in Sydney’s eastern suburbs, and Warner said he felt more settled than ever in the city.
The turning point, he said, came in straightforward talks with Cox, now Sydney’s coach. Warner said the conversations were open and direct, with the pair even discussing the possibility of meeting other clubs. He said he let Cox know when he bought a house in Applecross last January, and the coach came by, looked at it and shared a few beers in the backyard.
That openness appears to have mattered. Warner said he went into the last contract year thinking he was going home, only for that view to change as the season unfolded. The result was a new deal that kept one of Sydney’s most important players in place, even as Western Australian clubs waited for a chance to bring him back.
For now, Warner remains in Sydney, but he has made clear that the door to Perth is not shut. He said all options will again be on the table when he comes out of contract at the end of next season, leaving his next move as one of the league’s more closely watched decisions.
