EMBARRASSED, battered and with big decisions to make. 

Welcome to the Swans' 2018 postmortem, sealed with a hammer when Greater Western Sydney ruthlessly ended their season at the SCG on Saturday evening.

It is hard to know what to make of Sydney's season.

ORANGE CRUSH Full match coverage and stats

The Swans looked in serious danger of not even making the finals with a month to go, only to edge out Collingwood, Melbourne and the Giants before narrowly losing to Hawthorn.

The same-old concessions followed: why do we ever doubt the Bloods? But then a performance like Saturday's reminds us why.

They had 19 inside 50s in the opening half and a paltry 39 overall compared to GWS's 63.

It wasn't a new phenomenon, with Sydney ranking fourth-worst in the competition for inside-50 differential – ahead of only Fremantle, Carlton and Gold Coast.

Red-time goals in the last quarter from Luke Parker and Tom Papley on Saturday spared the Swans some blushes, pushing their total to a still-miserable 4.6 (30).

BUDDY NEEDS BUDDIES Longmire seeks new avenues to goal

The club's lowest-ever tally in a final remains the 3.8 (26) that South Melbourne posted in the 1899 Grand Final against Fitzroy.

But, again, this isn't new for Sydney.

John Longmire's men failed to reach 80 points in 13 of their 23 matches, and only six teams averaged fewer than their 82.8 points per game.

The Swans were also only sixth for points conceded (75.6), not enough to offset their scoring impotency.

Lance Franklin was named All Australian for an eighth time this year and remains the red-and-white talisman in attack, but his support crew is extremely young.

Sydney won all four games that 'Buddy' was goalless in 2015, but is 2-6 in that scenario in the past three seasons, including Saturday's elimination final.

GAMEBREAKER Davis dominates Buddy in Giant win

Kurt Tippett's unexpected retirement was compounded by Sam Reid making just one appearance – after not playing at all in 2016 – and Sam Naismith suffering a season-ending knee injury in the pre-season.

Naismith's setback left Callum Sinclair to play a lone hand in the ruck, meaning Tom Papley (22 years old), Ben Ronke (20), Will Hayward (19) and Tom McCartin (18) surrounded Franklin.

The Swans often had to pluck Isaac Heeney from the midfield to add punch to the forward line.

McCartin, who looks a promising prospect, should really have spent most of  his debut season in the NEAFL, but instead played 15 AFL games.

WHO WAS WORST? Every Swan rated out of 10

Heath Grundy, Dane Rampe, Nick Smith, Jake Lloyd, Jarrad McVeigh, intercept specialist Aliir Aliir and Zak Jones comprise a stingy defence that will be bolstered once Callum Mills and Lewis Melican are back in 2019.

The biggest concern is the midfield, where the Giants horribly exposed Sydney.

Josh Kennedy is a champion, Luke Parker and Heeney will be figureheads for years to come, and Oliver Florent impressed on the wing this year, but Dan Hannebery and Kieren Jack are shadows of their former selves.

One or both of Mills and Jones might take on extra midfield minutes next season, especially if Hannebery takes up a long-term offer at St Kilda.

George Hewett is an effective tagger and wins his share of clearances, but will he develop into more?

Sydney sent a clear message about its intent for next year in re-signing veterans McVeigh and Grundy in recent weeks.

All Australian nominee Lloyd remains unsigned after a career-best season, and Gold Coast is reportedly circling with a big-money offer. 

Among the other out-of-contract Swans are Smith, Nic Newman, Dan Robinson, Dean Towers and Alex Johnson.

SWAN DIVE Five things we learned

Longmire has promised to be measured in his appraisal.

He knows he has talent to work with and the Swans should again take aim at finals in 2019, while promoting youth at the same time.

But plenty needs to go right for Sydney to rise above this year's mediocrity – and Franklin's not getting any younger.