Sydney Swans coach John Longmire addressed the media on the morning of the squad’s training session at Henson Park on Thursday.

Sydney is set to face GWS in its opening JLT Community Series clash at Blacktown International Sportspark on Saturday night.

Here are some key quotes from the press conference.

Preparation on the rise

“It’s good to be able to keep lifting the tempo and the competitiveness against genuine opposition, and this week it’ll go up another level again. It’ll be important over the next two weeks to sharpen up for Round 1.”

Sam Reid tracking well

“Sam is going quite well. He missed last week’s practice match because he was a little bit tight and we didn’t want to push him. But if he gets through training today he’ll play this week. Sam gives us a lot of structure up front. With Sam it’s not just about hitting the scoreboard; it’s about the structure and what he allows other players to do. He gives us a real target coming out of defence and that’s so important. He’s a very good contested mark, he gets across the ground really well and he gives us an outlet kick, which we were probably missing a bit last year.”

The importance of Lance Franklin

“We saw last year that despite not training Lance was still named All Australian captain, so he was still able to maintain a really high standard himself. But for the team’s aspect, to have him training is very important. We really like the fact that when he’s up the ground and roaming around he’s a hard match-up and a beautiful kick inside 50. There are a number of reasons why we’d like him out there training. He did a session two days ago, he’s pulled up well from that and so his training will step up over the next week.”

Growth of AFLX

“We’re certainly open-minded to the AFLX concept, particularly in NSW and Queensland as you find it so difficult to get full-sized ovals. We think for the growth of the game it’s important for the northern markets to be able to have alternatives. We struggle to get on grounds, let alone at the next level down.”