Veteran Sydney Swans defender Jarrad McVeigh addressed the media ahead of training at the SCG on Thursday morning. 

The Swans are set to face the Western Bulldogs in their opening clash of the 2019 season at Melbourne’s Marvel Stadium on Saturday night.

Here are some key quotes.

McVeigh tackling his 17^th AFL pre-season

“With the more experience you have you know how to get through the pre-season. The pre-season has been good for me personally and the group. This pre-season has been my best for a while. Probably for three or four years in a row I didn’t have a pre-season, but the last two I have had a good one, so I’m looking to get off to a good start this weekend.”

The young Swans 

“We’re pretty confident in having a solid season. We’ve blooded a lot of players over the past few years. They’ve played 20-30 games which is a good mark, and they’ll be looking to step up and really assert their careers this season. Will Hayward, Tom Papley, Zak Jones – we have a lot of faith in those types of players. They’ve played in big games and they know what’s required. And then we’ve got the youth. The draftees that are coming through this year look pretty good and I’m sure we’ll see them this year.”

Lewis Melican’s expected return

“He’s a critical, important player for us and we rate him highly. Last year he had a few hamstring troubles and we missed him dearly, but he’s had a good pre-season and it’ll be great to have him out there on the weekend." 

McVeigh cherishing the twilight years of his career 

“One of my favourite parts of footy is when you’re driving to a game and seeing the crowd moving in. Just looking at their faces and knowing they’re coming to watch you is really special. Those little moments are exciting and you take them in a little bit more towards the end of your career.” 

Lance Franklin’s availablity

“I want to sit him out there. He’s been training solidly for a while now and he’s got to get through today before the coaches make a call. But I’ll back him in every day of the week. He’s gone from strength to strength and the way he’s been training he’s been on a real mission. He’s training at a really high level. He always does but there’s been a bit of an edge to him, which is great to see. Hopefully he gets through today and we’ll see what the coaches say.”

Facing the Dogs

“We have so much respect for them. We’ve had some really good battles with them over the past few years. The games have been pretty tight. Some of their midfielders are some of the best midfielders in the competition. It’s going to be won and lost in the midfield. Their midfielders – Macrae, Hunter and Liberatore – are hard nuts on the inside and they have elite hands. So we’ll have to be on our game to close that down.”