Swans midfielder James Rowbottom spoke after training at the Sydney Swans Fan Day, presented by Volkswagen at Sydney Swans HQ on Saturday. He spoke about the side's disappointing loss to Hawthorn, the bye, Isaac Heeney's progress and more.
On the side's loss to Hawthorn last week
"We've obviously had a bit of time to unpack it. It was pretty disappointing, we didn't play around a footy for four quarters that we would have liked. To still be in the game with a couple of minutes to go was pretty pleasing if anything. So we've taken a lot of learnings out from the start of this week. A good review and a few things to work on moving forward. I think a good opposition on their home ground, a good pressure environment. It was a good challenge to face this time of year and as I said we took a few good learnings out of it. So it's obviously a good step for those situations moving forward."
On Isaac Heeney
"Yeah, I think he'll be a test on whatever day our main training is. He looked good, he's ticked all his boxes so far, so he's ready to go."
On the bye
"We had a couple of days off which was nice. I got to see family, a couple of boys, run up more, get some sun and hang out with family and friends. It was really nice just to put tools down."
On Errol Gulden
Yeah, he's good. He's in good spirits. It's really disappointing at what a result it is. He's out here today and getting around the place. So we love Errol and we'll wrap our arms around him."
On Saturday's training session
"Obviously in a week off you want to keep your self match fit. So we had a fair bit of match play, some running and then there's some drills. So kind of covered all bases and had a good hit out which was really good."
On heading to Perth next week to take on West Coast
"Nick (Blakey) and I watch them at home and they've played pretty well, got some talent across the field. Optus Stadium is a great ground and all their fans show up. No matter where a team sits we know its going to be a hard battle."
On momentum and the new rules
"It's hard to say because pre-season you play that way the whole time through. We obviously have 15 weeks of training that way. So it's hard to quantify how much faster it is compared to last year. But the first few weeks are also a bit quicker and hotter. So we'll wait and see as the season unfolds how it plays out."
On Fan Day
"It's great and our facilities allow for them to come in and have an inside look at what we've got going on. So they've watched us train today and we'll go do some weights and then we'll get to hang out with them after and say g'day."
