Swans set for Collingwood blockbuster
Sydney Swan Adam Goodes says the team should be primed to play the Magpies...
Goodes said the split round break had come at a good time for the Swans, giving them a week off before the now-traditional clash at ANZ Stadium against the Magpies.
"We've got a few blokes who are a bit sore and obviously a few blokes who are still injured and not available for selection," Goodes said.
"Hopefully over the next two weeks they're able to get some more training into them and maybe be available after that.
"With 10 games to go, we really want to make sure everyone's primed and ready to go for that Collingwood game in a couple of weeks."
Goodes said recent wins over Essendon and then Port Adelaide on Saturday night had been confidence-building, but he believes the team's revival began a week earlier, before the narrow round-10 loss to Hawthorn at the MCG.
"Just before the Hawthorn game, we really needed to change a few things and get back to playing a bit like we wanted to play," he said.
"To get so close against Hawthorn; we probably should have won that game... but the signs over the last two weeks are really positive."
Goodes says ruckman Mike Pyke has been developing well in recent weeks after switching from rugby union, and Melbourne Storm star Greg Inglis could be exactly the sort of foreign-code talent that other clubs would seek to develop into AFL footballers.
In the wake of rugby league convert Karmichael Hunt's VFL debut for Gold Coast, Goodes likened Inglis' natural athletic ability to that of the Swans' own code convert, Pyke.
The former Canadian rugby union international has performed well in the past month as a relief ruckman to Shane Mumford, and even carried the ruck division for a fortnight.
Essendon recently confirmed it had held talks with Inglis and Goodes said the prospect of the Storm star playing Australian football was exciting.
"From what's happened with Karmichael and Israel [Folau], it seems like we're getting these fantastic athletes," Goodes said on Monday.
"That's what we've been able to do here at the Swans, with getting Pykey over from a rugby union background.
"As you can see, he's developing. It's taking time but he's just a raw athlete and the amount of things you can do with that talent and ability... He's one of those types of talents, Greg Inglis.
"He's got the size; shed a few kilos off him in a couple of pre-seasons and who knows what, he could be playing AFL. But I definitely love watching Greg Inglis play sport."