Sydney Swans co-captain Dane Rampe says his side will get "exposed" if it focuses on banking early-season wins, despite recent history suggesting beaten grand finalists can be slow out of the blocks.
In their first chance to put last year’s Grand Final loss behind them, the Swans face Gold Coast on Saturday night looking to become just the second beaten grand finalist in seven years to win their opening game.
And no beaten grand finalist has returned to the decider the following year since 2013, when Hawthorn exorcised its demons and won the first premiership of its three-peat.
But far from fearing any emotional scarring from their heavy MCG defeat, Rampe expects his emerging group would hit new heights after experiencing their heartbreak.
"They've got a lot of experience from it, and taken confidence from being able to get there in the first place," he said.
"We've looked at (the Grand Final), reviewed it, it's a new season and if we spend time thinking about what's happened in the past we'll play like it as well.
"We're ready, we've got a really young and exciting group, quite a number are ready to take the next step.
"It's been a long time between drinks, the last couple of months particularly we've just been refining our craft. Everyone's really excited to turn a new page."
They've got a tricky opening six weeks that includes battles with Melbourne, Richmond and Geelong, but Rampe said they'd be punished for letting that change their approach.
"Every game in this competition is bloody tough," he said.
"If you go in with that mindset that you've got to get wins early, you're going to get exposed."
The Swans' biggest point of difference this season looks to be intercepting defender Aaron Francis, who played just 54 games in eight years at Essendon including only four appearances in 2022.
But joining a backline group including Tom and Paddy McCartin, Jake Lloyd, Robbie Fox and Rampe himself, the skipper hoped Francis could quickly play career-best footy.
"It takes a little while getting used to a new system, but he's come in and is a really popular member of the group," Rampe said.
"You can tell he's loving it up here and we love having him, it might take him a little while to get used to the gameplan but we like what we see."
The Sydney Swans will kick off the season with an away game against the Gold Coast Suns, before returning to the SCG for our first home game, a Sunday afternoon clash with Hawthorn.
The team will be announced via sydneyswans.com.au and our social media channels at 6:20pm, Thursday, March 16.
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