Sydney Swans vice-captain Dane Rampe spoke to the media ahead of training at the SCG on Tuesday morning.
The Swans will board a flight to Western Australia on Friday to prepare for the seaosn opener as they get the 2018 home and away season underway.
Here are some of the key quotes from Rampe's press conference:
Kicking off the season
“Excited is probably an understatement and I can’t wait to get over to Perth. We love going over there and hopefully we put our best foot forward on Sunday.”
New Perth stadium
“Yeah exactly – a little element of the unknown and apparently the lights are pretty incredible. I guess the atmosphere – 60,000-plus – is pretty exciting.”
Furnace in the west
“Whenever you go over to play West Coast or Fremantle it is a very hostile environment. It’s probably up there with one of the biggest ones, so we’re expecting a challenge from not only the Eagles but the crowd as well.”
Pre-season form
“We had a number of senior players out there during the pre-season which was probably a focus going in – really getting some game time in to them and coming out with our best foot forward. Probably in light of what happened early last year we just want to start as strong as we can. Although it’s a new year, we’re not going to get caught on the back foot.”
Park footy to vice-captain
“It’s obviously pretty special (my journey to the Swans). You can get caught up during the year on going about your business and playing footy but it’s important to acknowledge every now and then where you’ve come from and really appreciate.”
