Ahead of the 2005 Grand Final, former Swans coach Paul Roos took a group of young players aside to prepare them for what lay ahead.

One of those players was a shaggy-haired 22-year-old named Lewis Roberts-Thomson, who was nervously awaiting his first ever AFL Grand Final and all that came with the celebrations in Melbourne.

The words that were exchanged in that meeting still resonate with the now 29-year-old Swan, who said Roos’ advice still rings true just days before this year’s season decider.

“I remember back in 2005, Roosy pulled the younger guys aside and said something along the lines of ‘Look guys, I want you to enjoy the week because this doesn’t happen too often, so just soak it in, enjoy the atmosphere and take it as it is’,” Roberts-Thomson told SwansTV.

“Now for me, I think it’s just about simply passing on that advice that Roosy gave me and to just enjoy it and to treat it as another week.”

The Swans will be exposed to the AFL spotlight later in the week, when the team travels down to Melbourne on Thursday evening.

The team will experience the AFL Grand Final Parade through the streets of Melbourne on Friday, before lining up on the MCG’s hallowed turf in front of up to one-hundred thousand fans in Saturday’s decider.

Roberts-Thomson said the Grand Final was the biggest thrill you could experience in football, and added he will still be following Roosy’s advice to ‘soak it in’.

“When it comes down to switching on to the football side of things, you stick to the football stuff, but when it comes to enjoying the parade and just enjoying the atmosphere on game day, it’s about soaking it all in,” he said.

“The best thing about Grand Final week would have to be the parade and going through Melbourne and having all the supporters there cheering you on.

“It’s a bit of a thrill, and you just switch off and relax and get ready for the game.”

Swans co-captain Adam Goodes was another of Roos’ 2005 premiership charges, and his advice for his younger Swans team mates mirrors that of his former coach.

Goodes said the Swans should ‘embrace’ the Grand Final celebrations and savour the moment ahead of Saturday afternoon’s game.

“It’s a great time to be involved in footy and I can’t think of too many places or other things I’d rather be doing right now,” Goodes said.

“(The younger guys) should expect to see a lot of people cheering for them and a lot of family members in the crowd, but they should also not get overwhelmed by how many people there are going to be, because there is probably going to be a hundred thousand people in the crowd or just lining the streets of Melbourne.

“My really big message to them would be just to enjoy it and embrace it and bottle it up, because there’s going to be another hundred thousand people there watching on Saturday afternoon.”

Meanwhile, fellow co-captain Jarrad McVeigh, who was just 21 in his first Grand Final appearance in 2006, said what is ahead of his younger team mates is every kid’s dream.

“It’s obviously the biggest game of the year so there are going to be a lot of people around and a really good buzz in Melbourne,” he said.

“(My advice would be) to just enjoy it.

“When you’re a kid it’s what you dream about and when you run around you should take a look around and take it in and then get ready to play.”

Just days away from the Swans Grand Final clash with Hawthorn on Saturday afternoon, McVeigh’s advice for game day was even simpler.

“It’s only two hours of hard work, so it can’t be that hard.”