While more than three months have passed since the Swans’ round one loss to GWS, the co-captain said he felt the rivalry had been brewing between the two Sydney sides, with his team keen to settle the score this weekend.
“I think internally (a rivalry) definitely has grown, which is a good thing footy,” he said at Friday’s White Ribbon Cup launch at the SCG.
“Definitely internally you want to beat them and they want to beat us, and they’ve done that in round one, so we want to get one back.”
McVeigh, who spoke to the media alongside GWS co-captain Callan Ward, said both teams had changed significantly since round one, with the Swans now on a nine-game winning streak and GWS posting consecutive wins over the last fortnight.
The Swans skipper made no excuses for the team’s early season form, but said they were up for the challenge this weekend.
“(Round one) irked us at the time, but both teams have changed since then,” he said.
“It was disappointing for us, but we’ve learnt a lot from then and we’re in some good form at the moment, so hopefully we can continue that tomorrow night.
“We’ve been playing a lot better, and so have they, so it’s going to be a great contest.”
GWS’s Ward agreed that much had changed since the two teams’ last meeting.
“Round one was a long time ago and was over three months ago, and we can take confidence out of that, but at the same time (the Swans) have changed enormously,” he said.
“Their forward line is working really well together and their midfield are playing really good footy as well.
“It’s a whole new ball game.”
The Swans will go into Saturday night’s match with confidence after posting their ninth straight win last Friday night over Richmond.
Despite coming away with an 11-point win, McVeigh said the Swans had plenty to improve on heading into this weekend’s match.
“You’re going to go through momentum shifts throughout games and things like that, and our last two weeks haven’t been that great, but we’ve still been able to win and I think that’s important,” he said.
“We want to get back to that really good form that we were in, tomorrow night.
“We know what’s required and we know how to do that and we’re expecting to do it.”
The Swans are bolstered by the returns of Kurt Tippett and Ben McGlynn in tomorrow night’s match, with the pair back in the side after missing the last two rounds due to injury, while GWS have called on talented forward Jeremy Cameron to return for the Derby.
McVeigh said both Tippett and McGlynn were big inclusions and would be important players for the Swans.
“It’s good for those guys,” he said.
“They had a short lay-off, only two weeks, so they’re fine and ready to go.
“They trained well yesterday and it’s good for the rest of the group to have two important players, who had been playing well for us, to get back in.”
