The 24-year-old, who on most occasions is blessed with the gift of the gab, struggled to find the words to explain just how much he was looking forward to next week’s AFL decider.
“I’m very excited,” Rampe told SwansTV in the rooms after the club’s 71-point win.
“It’s hard to put into words at the moment, I just really, really enjoyed the win tonight and to know that I’m in a Grand Final is just a dream come true.
“I don’t really know what to say at the moment, I’m just pretty excited.”
Should the same side take the field in next Saturday’s big match at the MCG, Rampe will be one of six players set for their first Grand Final, with Ben McGlynn, Kurt Tippett, Gary Rohan, Jake Lloyd and Harry Cunningham all ready for a taste of the last Saturday in September.
Rampe, who has not missed a game since round four last season, said while the team was told to soak up the win, they were also instructed to be prepared for the huge week ahead.
“The first thing that was said in the rooms after the game was just to enjoy what we’ve done tonight and to really get around each other,” he said.
“We were told to obviously enjoy the win, but to not get too carried away because we still have a lot of work to do.
“Come tomorrow (Saturday), we need to switch back on and get focused because we’re there now and we want to win it.”
Friday night was a comprehensive performance by the Swans, who led at every change to run away with a 71-point win.
Rampe said he felt the win came as a result of an impressive team performance, with a few standout individual efforts thrown in the mix.
“We probably couldn’t have asked for a more whole performance from the boys,” he said.
“We had some brilliant roles from some individuals too, and obviously Harry Cunningham had a huge job on Brent Harvey and ‘Smooch’ (Nick Smith) again put (Lindsay) Thomas to sleep.
“That’s what he does, he’s the babysitter!
“It was just a really good, even performance.”
Rampe said he expected the team would tune in to Saturday’s second preliminary final between Hawthorn and Port Adelaide, but admitted he hadn’t yet been informed about what else was ahead of him in the lead up to the biggest match of the year.
“I’ll definitely watch it, but I don’t really know what the process is,” Rampe said.
“We’ve got called in tomorrow to have a discussion about how the week works.
“That’s the big thing and that’s why we’ve been told to enjoy the night but to not get too carried away because we’ve still got another big job to do.”
