After many years of competing for Sydney’s attention, defender Ted Richards believes the Swans have finally caught the Harbour city’s interest in 2012.

Following an impressive home-and-away season, which saw the club record 16 wins, and now having secured a home Preliminary Final, the defender said he couldn’t help but feel there was a Swans’ vibe in the city this season.

Speaking at Swans training at the SCG on Thursday, Richards said after six years with the Swans, he really feels that Sydney sporting fans are starting to take notice.

“What is a positive is the fact that each year Sydney seems to be embracing us more and this is the most kind of attention Sydney have directed (at us),” he said.

“We’ve got no game here this weekend but we’ve still got a massive media contingent so it’s not like Sydney aren’t aware of what’s going on.

“I think Sydney has really embraced AFL and I’m hoping we get a really good crowd out there (Friday) week.”

Richards is one of the few Swans players in the current side that played in Sydney’s most recent Preliminary Final back in 2006.

The 29-year-old said his experience six years ago, which saw the Swans defeat Fremantle in a Preliminary Final at ANZ Stadium before falling one-point short of West Coast in the Grand Final would act as motivation for this year’s finals campaign.

“(2006) was pretty similar in that we won the Qualifying Final over in Perth, then got the week off and then played the Prelim Final out at ANZ,” he said.

“(2006) definitely does drive me because I’ve had that taste of what finals is like at this time of year, and it is certainly driving me because I want to go one better than last time.

“I’ve got a lot of positive memories from that, but I’ve got a lot of sad memories as well so the main thing is that I just want to get back there, but at the same time what I’ve learnt is to just focus in on the Preliminary Final and let things look after themselves after that.”

The defender said last week’s win over Adelaide had some remnants of the 2006 season, with Swans defender-cum-forward Lewis Roberts Thomson back beside him in the Swans defence.

“LRT was fantastic; it was like being back in 2006 playing together,” Richards said.

“I’m not sure where he is going to be lining up next week, he could be down back, he could be down forward or he could even be in the ruck.

“He is a real utility LRT, now.”

The Swans defence have produced an outstanding season, giving away an average of just over 74 points a game.

Individually, Richards has also produced a stand-out season, and collected an All Australian nomination alongside team mates Josh Kennedy, Kieren Jack and Lewis Jetta.

But Richards was quick to dismiss the Swans’ season form as any kind of advantage in this year’s finals series, and said the team will need to be at their best to go that one step further this season.

“What we take out of that is that we know what we’ve been doing has been working and we plan to stick to that so it works in the future,” he said.

“But it doesn’t actually mean that we have an advantage going into the next game because a lot can change in a week.

“It’s good that what we’ve been doing has been working, but we have to keep it going.”