Swans coach John Longmire said that his selection in the Swans first game of the season was a just reward for the work and attitude he has shown since coming to the club in December’s rookie draft.

“It’s fantastic, he’s just a young kid who a few months ago was back home in Turvey Park in Wagga and now he gets his first game of AFL football,” Longmire said.

“It’s just a wonderful story and hopefully he grabs his chance on Saturday night and plays really well.

“He’s really coachable - he listens, he learns well and he’s lightning quick - so he’s got some really good attributes to play AFL footy, and hopefully it’s the start of a long career."

On receiving the news of being named in the Swans side, Cunningham was understandably looking forward to the opportunity of running out in the red and white.

“I’m definitely excited to be part of it this weekend because this is going to be historic - especially playing against GWS in their first game,” he said.

“I just love footy and all I’ve wanted to do since I was young was play AFL footy, and I guess that’s what’s going to happen this weekend.”

Gary Rohan has also been named in the team to face GWS after he trained well in this afternoon’s final training session.

There had been some doubts over Rohan’s fitness after he rolled his ankle in last Saturday’s practice match against the Gold Coast Suns, but Longmire said he was happy with how Rohan had made it through the session.

“Gary was good, he trained really well, he was really lively and he looked fantastic,” Longmire told SwansTV.

“He’s in (the side) which is terrific news for us, we get some real speed in our forward half.”

Rhyce Shaw will miss the historic clash at ANZ Stadium after injuring his back in last weekend’s clash against the Suns.

Longmire said Shaw had tried to train today but couldn’t get through the warm up and was subsequently ruled out.

With players such as Shaw, Ryan O’Keefe and Matt Spangher missing the match through injury, Longmire said it highlighted the depth of the squad that their losses were able to be covered yet still have players pushing for senior selection.

“We were really hoping that our reserves would have played last week, but unfortunately that wasn’t the case. There’s still a fair bit of pressure on there for spots going into round 1,” he said.

“We’ve got some really good young talent coming through as well and hopefully they get the chance to play in our reserves this week.”

Longmire said that GWS had combined a good mix of youth and experience in their squad and it will take the Swans best effort to come away with a victory on Saturday night.

“We’re going to have to play really well - that’s the bottom line,” he said

“We’re going to have to give a good, hard, tough, four-quarter effort to win the game of footy. There’s four points on the line, and we’re going to do everything to win it.”

The team to face GWS on Saturday night is:

B: M.Mattner, H.Grundy, N.Smith
HB: A.Johnson, T.Richards, A.Everitt
C: N.Malceski, K.Jack, C.Bird
HF: J.McVeigh, A.Goodes, L.Parker
F: L.Roberts-Thomson, S.Reid, B.McGlynn
Foll: S.Mumford, J.Bolton, J.Kennedy
I/C: H.Cunningham, D.Hannebery, L.Jetta, G.Rohan 
Emg: N.Gordon, M.Morton, M.Seaby