There is no such thing as an easy game for Sydney Swans defender Ted Richards.

The 2012 All-Australian defender, who has already battled the likes of St Kilda forward Nick Riewoldt and high flying Hawthorn star Lance Franklin this season, will share the duties on Collingwood key forwards Travis Cloke and Quinten Lynch in tomorrow night’s blockbuster clash at the MCG.

Speaking from Sydney Airport ahead of the team’s flight down to Melbourne, Richards said limiting Collingwood’s big men would help steer the Swans to victory on Friday night.

“They are go-to players, so inside 50 the Collingwood midfielders will be looking to them so I’ll be trying to get support,” Richards told SwansTV.

“I also understand that there will be a lot of one-on-ones where it’s just me and Cloke or me and Lynch and I’ve got to win those one-on-one battles.

“I really want to limit their opportunities of having shots on goal and hopefully that goes a long way to us having a good win.”

Leading into this week’s match, Richards said he studied the Magpies’ recent performances and in particular took note of the influence of the Collingwood forward targets in last week’s win over Geelong.

“I watched their game and it would have been a great game to watch live because it was just a really fierce contest between Geelong and Collingwood, which everyone was expecting,” Richards said.

“I watched it purely focusing in on their key forwards, Cloke and Lynch, and those guys have been playing football for a long time so I know what they’re capable of and I know what they can do.”

But the defender cautioned that it wasn’t only the Pies’ key forwards who had been in top form this season, with small forwards Sam Dwyer, Jamie Elliott and Andrew Krakouer doing the damage against the Cats last week with three goals apiece.

Richards said it was critical for the Swans to not let the Pies’ small forwards take control of the game tomorrow night.

“These guys aren’t getting the respect they deserve because Collingwood have so many big names,” the defender said.

“What that means is these new up and coming players who have been performing haven’t been getting that recognition.

“We’ve been doing a lot of homework on these guys, some of whom are averaging 2-3 goals per week so they are really important.

“Nick Smith, Dane Rampe and Nick Malceski and all of those guys will be focusing on them this week and they’ve got a very important job.”

The Swans will be looking to put their first win on the board in Melbourne this season, after falling short against the Hawks a fortnight ago.

Richards said the team was looking forward to the opportunity to meet one of the competition’s biggest clubs on the AFL’s main stage this week.

“It’s really kind of a big opportunity for us because for one we don’t get to play much Friday night football but also to be down on the MCG, it really is the big stage and we’re really excited about this opportunity.”