RIVALRY round might be a week behind us, but Swans coach Paul Roos says West Coast is his team's fiercest foe, ahead of the two sides' clash at ANZ stadium.

Roos said the bitter history between the two clubs – particularly the two edge-of-the-seat grand finals of 2005 and 2006 – gives Saturday night's grudge match a special edge in front of what is expected to be a massive crowd.

“We had back great games and great grand finals,” Roos said on Thursday. “A lot of these players have been involved in those two games.

“We probably see them as our biggest rival. And we respect the way they play and expect a really tough game.

“There are a lot of similarities between West Coast and Brisbane Lions. They are hard and tough like us and Brisbane are still a decent side, as you saw last week. So it's good coming off a hard tough game knowing we've got another one this week.”

The Swans will go into Saturday night's clash unchanged, which means forward Nick Davis must once again cool his heels in the reserves.

However, the Eagles have been hit by a spate of injuries. Matt Priddis in particular is a big loss for the 2006 premiers. He is expected to be sidelined for three weeks with a left knee complaint.

“Priddis has been playing really, really well,” said Roos. “Actually, we had a look at him a couple of years ago. We saw him play in the WAFL and he's a very good player.

“Obviously he's a good player but it gives the chance for other players like [Jamie] McNamara and as you've seen with us [bringing in young players] can be very exciting. And it gives the other senior players a boost.

“They've had McNamara, [Brad] Ebert, [Scott] Selwood coming through and they're just trying to find the mix. They've had a few new players come in so it's a similar situation to the Swans. We expect them to be hard and tough like they normally are and we expect a really good match as we always do against the Eagles.”

Roos said he was planning his strategy around Dean Cox playing on Saturday night. The Eagles' star ruckman injured his foot last week against Fremantle and remains in doubt despite being named in West Coast’s squad on Thursday.

“We expect Cox to play,” said Roos. “He came on and off last week. Maybe he played with a jab, we don't know though. But we're planning for it.”

With the Eagles 1-2, much of the pre-game talk has focused on the loss from their list of former Brownlow medalists Chris Judd and Ben Cousins. But Roos isn't buying into that debate, preferring to focus on a quality list that John Worsfold has at his disposal.

“People talk about Judd and Cousins not being there, but for half of last season Judd was restricted by a groin injury and Cousins was out for 13 weeks,” Roos said.

“I think it's a balancing act. You can't disrespect any of the other guys. They've played well without them too.

“They've beaten us the last three times and we can't afford to worry too much about who's not there. We've got to worry about who is there. They've also won a premiership.”

Meanwhile, another newspaper columnist has suggested the Swans are a “protected species” following Leigh Matthews' barbs last week concerning Adam Goodes.

Roos responded to this latest slight with a smile: “I thought you were allowed to get free kicks? I don't know. Everyone's got an opinion in footy.”