Sydney Swans Assistant Coach Mark McVeigh spoke to media following the team's Friday training session at Moore Park.

With just one month until Opening Round against Hawthorn he provided plenty of insight into the team and it's preparations.

On Logan McDonald (McDonald had post season ankle surgery):

We've taken a really conservative approach with him. It's taken a bit longer than perhaps what we thought. He's turned the corner in the last couple of weeks and he's looking a hell of a lot better, but it's just one of those things that we've got to be really careful of.

He's an important player and clearly we want him to play majority of the year, so we're not rushing it. It'll take a little bit more time than what we thought, but he's made some progress in the last two weeks which is pleasing.

On Captain Callum Mills:

He's really obviously ready to attack the season and he's come back in full health. Obviously towards the back end of 2024 he had some slight injuries, but he's over those. He was able to do a full pre-season.

He's played the majority of our games in-house, so he's doing really well and he's raring to go. We're really impressed with where he's at.

He's a player that really demands high standards of everything. I know he's really determined to make sure the group continues to grow under Coxsy (Dean Cox).

Obviously it's a new approach and Coxsy and him have got some great ideas and they've implemented those really quickly. So he's ready to go and he's certainly leading the club really well.

On players in different positions:

I think Dean was really keen just to have a look at our team and where players could perhaps slot in at times.

That doesn't mean that Tom McCartin won't play back. Obviously with our forward line and a couple of our players coming back from injury, we've got to have a look at this. Tommy's been really impressive there. He may play there early in the pre-season games. He's certainly has been playing back as well, so he's been flipping forward and back. It just gives us great options.

There's a number of players playing different positions as well, whether it's Mills at half-back and Ollie Florent at half-back and going to the wing or playing inside. There's a lot of different moves going on. We're trying them out to see where it gets to, but at this stage there's no set decision on where Tommy will play. It will probably depend on teams and match-ups.

On Sam Wicks playing down back:

We're really impressed. He's got really good speed.

He's a really role orientated player, which probably suits him down back at times. Again, he's another player that we're looking at, whether he can play forward or back. We need some support for Harry Cunningham, who's played that role for a very, very long time.

He's really keen to learn it. We are really happy with the way he's going. His speed and endurance is really important for our back half.

It's another player that we'll look to maybe shift and make a move if we need to, but he's doing a good job.

On an injury concerns going into Opening Round:

There's no immediate danger. It's always hard to tell.

We're a month out today. Those players (on injury list) will really ramp up in the next few weeks. It's all about how they integrate into the team, how they integrate into training, how they're feeling.

There's no real danger from my point of view. In saying that, I'm always arms length as a coach as well. We rely on our team that's underneath us in regards to our doctors and our physios, who are fantastic.

We trust what they're doing. They're working really hard behind the scenes. They keep us up to date, but at this stage there's no real concern.

On Dean Cox taking the reigns:

Obviously he worked extremely well under a great coach (John Longmire) who's given him a great foundation to become a great coach himself.

He's got his own philosophy, his own ideas. He's probably a bit more relaxed. That may change in a month's time, but he's been amazing to be honest.

He's not one of those guys that's just going to sit back and let it unfold. He's put his stamp straight away on the group and on the coaches. I think he's doing a terrific job so far and he's preparing this team really, really well.

On the coaching team:

Jarrod McVeigh's gone to the VFL, which is great and we announced that a while back now.

I'll continue to coach the back line. Amon Buchanan will be in the forward line and obviously Ben Mathews will be the midfield coach. He's been here a long time as well.

On depth of the team:

I think when a new coach comes in, they have a new lens. Coxsy may have thought some things for many years about some players and had some ideas and he's able to implement them now.

We've got a lot of players that can play multiple positions and you've seen that throughout 2024 and I think we'll see that again in 2025. I think whether it's Heeney, whether it's Mills, whether it's Gulden, all these type of players. Chad Warner, whether he can play deep forward when he's not playing in the midfield. Whether Gulden can play inside instead of on the wing. These are all the things we're having a look at and we're really fortunate we have a group that we can do that with.

On talls down back:

I think we underestimate Nick Blakey, how tall he is. He's a player that can play small and tall. He still stands at 196cm, so he's a tall player, so he can play on keys if he needs to.

Obviously, Melican’s coming off arguably his career best year and he certainly will be there to help us out. Rampe will go there again, can play tall or small. We've got some developing players and obviously Francis has played there before as well.

We drafted a young kid called Riak Andrew who's been really impressive, he stands quite tall and can defend, so we've got some flexibility there.

On Chad Warner:

We've heard some of the major coaches in our league talking about players, talking about other clubs. It's where we're at. We understand it. We respect it.

In the end, ultimately, it's up to Chad what he wants to do. We're coaching him to the best of our ability. He buys in as good as anyone, so we know there's a major decision coming up for him.

We'll just support him through that. Clearly, we want him to stay, but in the end, it'll be his decision. Like you said, it's a professional industry.

We know what it is. We respect it. We support the player and hopefully we're able to retain him.