Speaking at the official season launch at Parliament House today, which was attended by New South Wales Premier Barry O’Farrell , AFL CEO Andrew Demetriou and Deputy Gillan McLachlan, as well as Swans and GWS players and coaches, Jack said today’s morning tea marked the beginning of the 2013 season for the Swans.
“We’ve got some heavyweights here from the AFL with Andrew Demetriou coming (up) and it’s just a real signal that footy is here and we’re back,” Jack said.
“I am just really itching to get out there again and there is no real substitute for game time and getting match fit.
“I’m sick of watching rugby league on TV and I just want the footy to start.”
This weekend’s third Sydney Derby will mark Jack’s first regular season match as co-captain of the club, since taking over the top job from Adam Goodes during the pre-season.
The 25-year-old said he was looking forward to co-captaining the Swans, but has yet to have a discussion with Jarrad McVeigh about who would lead the Swans onto the field at ANZ Stadium this Saturday.
“I’ll have to talk to Jarrad about it, but we’ll just take it in turns and go from there,” Jack said.
“It’s worked OK during the pre-season but I’m certainly looking forward to my first time as co-captain.”
It’s not just the newly appointed co-captain who can’t wait for Saturday’s season opener, with coach John Longmire also admitting to having ‘itchy feet’ after watching last weekend’s opening round clashes in Adelaide and Perth.
“Being able to sit down this week and watch the first game of the season, everyone is just excited that the season is finally upon us,” Longmire said.
“It is a long summer and the players really train hard just to sharpen their skills and their fitness up for round one and that’s what we’re on the eve of now.
“You look at the games now and you realise that the big stuff is on and it starts this week and we need to make sure we put in a really strong performance week in, week out and be consistent.”
Despite taking out the silverware last year after a memorable season, Longmire said it was back to square one from the Swans in 2013.
“Everyone starts from scratch,” he said.
“We had a fantastic season last year which we all acknowledge but we’ve moved on from that because we need to and you look at a hungry team like GWS and you look at other teams who want to keep improving and we need to maintain our standards and we have to keep on improving those standards.
“It’s the start of the season and everyone is looking forward to playing the first game for premiership points and we can’t wait.”
