Kaiden Brand is preparing for his Sydney Swans debut in the midst of the turbulent coronavirus pandemic, but the key defender isn’t letting the crisis sidetrack him in his pursuit to thrive at his new club.

The former Hawk will make his first AFL appearance in red and white when Sydney opens its 2020 campaign against Adelaide at Adelaide Oval on Saturday.

News broke last Friday that games would be played in empty stadiums, the league decided on Monday to slash the season to 17 rounds and it wasn’t decided until Wednesday night that Round 1 would begin this week.

Brand admits the coronavirus drama has made for “a week of the unknown”, but he says he’s remaining single-minded about nailing his Swans debut.

“I just want to play my role as a key defender and help out the boys down there,” Brand said.

“My one-on-one defending is one of my strengths and I like to use my attributes like my athleticism. Plenty of practice over the years against some big forwards definitely helps.

“I’m really driven to have a good run at the Swans. I came here looking for a fresh start and to try to further my career. Hopefully I can do that and help out the team and get my game and the team’s game going in the right direction.”

When Brand arrived at the Swans in November, the 43-game backman joined a defence that had just lost 882 matches’ worth of experience.

Premiership defenders Jarrad McVeigh (325 games), Heath Grundy (256) and Nick Smith (211) retired at the end of season 2019, while 90-match speedster Zak Jones departed for St Kilda.

But Brand is confident himself, reigning Club Champion Dane Rampe, elite interceptor Aliir Aliir and promising youngster Lewis Melican can keep the club’s key defensive stocks in top shape.

“It’s always tough when you lose guys of the calibre that we lost, but by the same token there are a lot of guys coming through that can take over the mantle,” Brand said.

“I think there’s lots of talent and lots of guys who are really driven to take over the reins from those guys and keep the club going forward.”

No one knows when fans will be passing through the turnstiles again, but Brand is remaining optimistic in the wake of the no-crowds call.

“Hopefully in the not-too-distant future the fans can come back and we can really create that big atmosphere at the game again.”

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