The Sydney Swans are preparing for the 2024 Toyota AFL Grand Final on Saturday, September 28 at the MCG.

Sydney Swans midfielder James Rowbottom has spoken to the media ahead of the side’s Grand Final Parade and Open Training session.

Hear what Rowbottom had to say on his preparation, the energy and feeling around Grand Final Week, the approach to facing the Brisbane Lions and how the team has matured and changed since 2022.

“I'll just look to bring some heat and intensity around to their whole midfield. They've obviously got a pretty star-studded cast in there, so yeah, hopefully get across the board.

Lachie Neale’s been struggling with injury though. Do you give him a little bit of extra attention?
I think you've got to give a bit of extra attention to a dual Brownlow Medallist at the best of times, but we'll treat it as the game comes and if anything needs to be adjusted as it goes, we'll treat it like that.

An absolute star of the competition, but it's not the only factor in their game. They're obviously in the grand final in a very good outfit across the board, so we've got to be on our best as a team.

How much do you take out of the last time you two sides faced off? Do you do much preparation on that or is it a completely different game?
Obviously it's a different game in a different environment, but we did only play them I think in round 21, so there were a few key factors we're able to take out of that and put into this game hopefully can go a long way to winning.

Does the MCG favour the Swans or the Lions?
We love coming down to the G. We love our South Melbourne supporter base down here and our Sydney fans that are in the state and they've been amazing all year and whenever we turn up to the G, they're great.

But I personally love playing at the MCG and I'm sure a lot of the other boys do too.

I know Callum’s only played seven games this year, but he's been such an integral part of the midfield for the last five, six years.
As you said, he's only played seven games this year and we've gone alright without him in those games that he hasn't been there. He's obviously an incredible leader and when he hasn't been playing, his leadership's been second to none regardless and he'll continue to do that this weekend.

How have you as a group got around him and supported him?
Yeah, it's obviously shattering for him.

He did everything he could to get out there this week, but everyone's got around him and as I said, his role's not going to change. The way he carries himself and his demeanour and his leadership is amazing.

Do you think he can really feel part of it tomorrow or will he be a bit heartbroken?
As hard as it is, he's incredible at what he does and he's the captain of this footy club and everything we do, we do together and he'll feel part of it for sure.

The two sides have taken two very different paths to get here.
Obviously they've had to come from outside the four, which is a tough route, but they're an incredible team and their form's been amazing since their probably slow start to the start of the year. They've been probably the best team in the comp across that period of time and they've shown in the last two weeks that the big stage or a big lead from the opposition is nothing that's going to keep them down, so it's going to be a good game.

Would you say you're more mature, more ready to go this time around than 22?
Yeah, I think so. I think the group is very similar since the 2022 game and we've all played sort of 50 or so games together, so that definitely helps, and not so much in the age department, but in just terms of games played together and situations we've faced together will hopefully help.

How's the coach been this week? What sort of things, and wisdom has he been leaving?
Horse is always very similar in the way he carries himself. He's incredible in how he prepares this group and has done for a very long time.

I think it's his fifth grand final that he's taken the group to and he's incredible in how he just keeps getting the boys to remain motivated and remain focused and hopefully we can get it done for him.

Have you seen any Swans fans yet down here? Are you feeling the love?
Yeah, it's been great. As I said, there's obviously a big South Melbourne contingent down here which is amazing and we've had a couple of Swans fans outside the hotel and getting around it, so it's been good and obviously today is a big day and a public holiday and hopefully give back to them.

How are you going to manage your mind for the next 24 hours? Will you think about it or lock it out?
No, I think a learning was probably to embrace it and appreciate the stage that is the grand final. I think about the game generally a lot across the week for any given week normally, so I don't think I'll treat it any differently in that regard, but I'll just appreciate the magnitude of what the game will bring.