Newly appointed Head Coach Jarrad McVeigh will coach his first VFL game this weekend when Sydney takes on Collingwood in Melbourne on Saturday afternoon.
McVeigh took the reigns this season, after spending the past five years as an AFL assistant coach, which followed 325 AFL games for the Swans.
The Club legend said he was enjoying the new responsibility.
“It's been great to get to know our VFL players that you do see around over the past few years but it's nice to get to know those guys a lot more closely,” McVeigh said.
“Then trying to build and amalgamate the two groups together has been quite fun as well, the energy they bring, they're in here until all hours at night doing their weights and stuff, so the respect level that I have for those guys has certainly gone through the roof.”
After a 13th place finish last year, McVeigh emphasised the importance of a competitive season in 2025.
“We didn’t make finals last year, and we want to put a big emphasis on competing really strongly to support our AFL team,” McVeigh said.
“Towards the back end of the year, we want to be playing strong footy and for our players to be pushing for selection to put pressure on the players above, so that's one thing we really want to strive to do.
“Our contest work and our ability to run and transition has been the key that we've been working on, and just getting the basic fundamentals of the game has kind of been our pre-season method.”
McVeigh said there was no shortage of VFL-listed talent for fans to keep an eye on this season.
“Oscar Davies had a pretty rough two years with injury, but the stuff he's showed in the pre-season, he's got really good speed, good skills, so he'll play through the midfield and forward, which we've been pretty wrapped with,” McVeigh said.
“Byron Laws has spent some time in Sweden, just having a bit of a holiday over there, but he can play back or forward, and he's been really impressive in the past few pre-season games.
“Pierce Roseberry's come back as well, he's had a few injuries and James Tideman's playing really well, so we've got a lot of young guys that work really hard and deserve their opportunities.”
The VFL side will travel to Melbourne this weekend for its first game of the home and away season.
McVeigh said the team was excited to get the season underway.
“It's been a long pre-season, we've played a lot of games against the Giants throughout the pre-season, but it was nice to travel with the whole group to Gold Coast a few weeks ago,” McVeigh said.
“A lot of guys will get their chance this week, which is great.
“It's always good getting away together to build that connection between the AFL and our VFL-listed players as well, just to really get to know each other a little bit more as the season unfolds.”
The Round 1 team will be released 5:00pm on Friday. You can watch the Swans take on Collingwood from Victoria Park at 12:05pm live on AFL.com.au.
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