This is the Swans’ seventh finals campaign in a row but this time it will be a little different. We’ve got a lot of new faces who’ll be getting their first taste of September football.
I’m very confident these boys will be able to get the job done — you have to start at some point. A few will play their first finals and a few got a taste last year. I’m certain they’ll bring to the finals what they’ve done all season.
Callum Mills, Tom Papley, Sam Naismith, Xavier Richards, Aliir Aliir, Harry Marsh and George Hewett have all done a great job for us this year and this is the next step for them.
I’ll be telling these boys to enjoy the experience — it’s what you play football for.
The tempo and scrutiny goes up in these games. The first 10 minutes of any final is flat out but then it settles down. If players just stay calm things will sort themselves out and the games will continue as they usually do.
The thing about all these boys is they are ready and they have definitely earned their spot. They’ve worked hard over the pre-season and in the reserve grade games throughout the year. Once they’ve had their shot at it they’ve taken it.
I think a lot of the credit for the way our youngsters have gone goes to our leaders and the way they’ve performed. They’ve learned things the right way and made the most of their opportunities and gone to another level.
There’s no doubt the enthusiasm of the inexperienced players gives us older players a lift. When you see how excited the young players are when they kick goals it brings something else to the team and it’s infectious. We all get excited when you see your teammates doing well.
It puts a spring in your step and especially at this time of the year in September everyone has extra energy because we know there is so much on the line.
That’s what the carrot of winning a premiership can do for everyone.
The form we’ve shown over the last month has been really good. We have to improve on that because we know it’s going to go up another level in the coming weeks and the pressure will be really intense.
We need to train hard as well. We need to keep our standards high on the track because we’ve got the weekend off, which is a bit different.
It’s very important that we work hard and push the intensity levels.
If we do that right it will all lead into the game.
