Sydney co-captain Adam Goodes said the Swans have left the home-and-away season behind them and are now firmly focused on the rest of September.

Speaking alongside coach John Longmire at the SCG today, Goodes said the team’s first task was overcoming the Adelaide Crows’ challenge in front of a hostile AAMI Stadium crowd this Saturday afternoon.

“It’s finals footy and it doesn’t matter what’s happened in the last 23 weeks,” Goodes said.

“(Adelaide) are up and about, they’re playing good footy and they’re confident. They’ve got a home final and they are going to have a big crowd supporting them.

“It’s going to be an action packed game on Saturday afternoon and that’s what we’re really looking forward to.

“It’s another big final where everything is against us.”

Goodes and fellow veteran Jude Bolton are the Swans’ most experienced finals’ competitors, having played in 20 finals each so far in their football careers.

But despite his experience, the 32-year-old said no two finals’ matches are ever the same.

“I’ve played in a lot of finals, but every final is completely different,” he said.

“The last final I played in Adelaide was in 2003 and it was against a different opposition so there are that many different challenges, there’s different teams and different dynamics.

“It’s an afternoon game and there are going to be 50,000 Adelaide supporters screaming at us and there are so many different things that are going to happen.

“It’s just a matter of preparing for the challenge on Saturday.”

Following tight contests with some of the competition’s best teams over the last month, Goodes said the team’s youngest players were exposed to finals-like intensity in the weeks leading up to September.

The co-captain said he believed the Swans’ last month was the perfect preparation for his less-experienced team mates.

“Any time that you play younger players in those big games they are going to benefit from it, and in the last month those games that we’ve played have been at that finals intensity,” he said.

“I like to think that put some good confidence in, that they’ve had it already, so they don’t have to remember back to last year’s (finals).

“The pressure that the opposition have been putting on us in the last month has been finals-like, so there is no doubt that we are ready.”

With some commentators questioning his form since returning from injury, Goodes added that he felt he was more than ready for the finals challenge this season.

“(Outside the club) everybody is saying (I’m lacking form),” Goodes said.

“I know from inside (the club) I’m not getting any pressure from coaches or players about my form.

“I know on the weekend it was good to run around on the bigger ground like we’re going to be playing in Adelaide this week and I feel like I’m up and about.”

Goodes said he expected to play a combination of roles this week, including in the forward line alongside Sam Reid, who the co-captain tipped to make his return from injury.

“I think my role this year has been a bit of a hybrid role, playing midfield and forward.

“Whether it’s midfield of forward, I’m just happy to play that role for the team.

“Obviously having Sammy Reid in the team is a huge bonus for us in that he’s another key forward who can take contested marks and who can play a couple of different roles for us.

“It will be great to have Sammy back this week and there is no doubt our forward line does operate a little bit better when he’s in it.”