Cunningham, who made his league debut 16 months ago against GWS in round one, 2012, has been recalled to the Swans’ side in place of Ben McGlynn, who is suspended for the next three matches.
Swans coach John Longmire told SwansTV in Perth on Friday that Cunningham’s pace would be an important asset on the vast Subiaco ground.
“(Harry) hurt his knee earlier in the year … and missed a fair bit of the first half of the year, and he’s been back for the last six weeks or so in our reserves and has been getting better every week,” Longmire said.
“He’s got genuine speed, and we think that’s pretty important on this ground, so he comes into the team.
“He’s very good at running, and carrying (and breaking) the lines, and he’s a really long kick as well.
“Obviously with Benny out of the team, to be able to bring in Harry, who’s still learning the caper - not quite up to the standard that Benny is as far as experience – but a similar player in regards to speed, and that’s what we’re looking for.”
The visitors go into Sunday’s game on the back of six successive wins against the Eagles, including the last three in Perth.
Longmire said his side will again need to bring their best pressure game on Sunday to match it with a potent West Coast side who pushed cross-town rivals, Fremantle, all the way in last weekend’s Western Derby.
“I think they had 60-odd (tackles) in the first half (last weekend) and they’re certainly a really strong tackling team,” he said.
“They’re second in the comp for tackling, and we like our tackling as well, so we want to make sure we put pressure on their ball-carriers and hopefully restrict the influence their tall forwards can have on the result of the game, because they do mark the ball very well and get a lot of goals from marks.
“They’ve got some quality players all over the ground, and we’ve got some players who have played a fair bit of footy here, and some players who haven’t played at all at Subiaco, so we’re really looking forward to the hitout and seeing how we go.”
The entire Swans side got a taste of Patersons Stadium on Friday afternoon when the final training session of the week was held there in perfect conditions.
With the session taking place behind closed doors, Longmire said he expected a little bit of a different reception when the gates open and the ball is bounced on Sunday afternoon.
“It can be a reasonably hostile environment,” he said.
“It’s a real challenge when you’re playing a good team like the West Coast Eagles on their home deck, and the crowd support is certainly solidly behind the Eagles.
“It is a challenge, but it’s something we’ve looked forward to for a number of years.
“We really enjoy coming over here, we really respect the West Coast Eagles Football Club and have had some really great battles, and I’m sure this weekend’s (game) will be similar as far as a real tight one.”
West Coast Eagles v Sydney Swans
Sunday July 21, 2013
2.40pm WST, 4.40pm AEST
Patersons Stadium, Perth
B D.Rampe, H.Grundy, N.Smith
HB N.Malceski, T.Richards, J.McVeigh
C B.Jack, J.Kennedy, K.Jack
HF C.Bird, J.White, L.Parker
F J.Bolton, K.Tippett, M.Pyke
Foll S.Mumford, R.O'Keefe, D.Hannebery
I/C H.Cunningham, A.Everitt, J.Lamb, T.Mitchell
Emg M.Morton, X.Richards, D.Towers
In: H.Cunningham
Out: B.McGlynn (Suspension)
