The 27-year-old, who took on the top job just months after the Swans’ 2012 premiership win, will share the captaincy duties this week with Jarrad McVeigh, who held the cup aloft alongside coach John Longmire two seasons ago.
Speaking to SwansTV at Tuesday’s open media session at the SCG, Jack said he was looking forward to sharing the honour of leading the club when the Swans met Hawthorn in Saturday’s AFL Grand Final.
“We know we’ve got a big job to do on Saturday and to be co-captain and to lead the boys out on Saturday alongside Macca is going to be a huge thrill,” he said.
“We’ve shared the captaincy all year and we’ve taken turns with the coin toss, and I did the coin toss in the prelim, so it will be Macca who does the coin toss on Grand Final day.
“I’ll do the Parade and the Grand Final press conference on Friday, so that will be a buzz, and there will be a lot of people there.
“It’s very exciting and I think it’s good that we can share the responsibilities a little bit and ensure it’s not too much of a burden on us individually, so I’m looking forward to it.”
With 16 players in the side who played in the 2012 Grand Final, the Swans are fortunate to boast plenty of experience leading into this year’s decider.
Six players are set to play in their first Grand Final, in Ben McGlynn, Kurt Tippett, Gary Rohan, Harry Cunningham, Dane Rampe and Jake Lloyd, with Jack saying his advice to the Swans’ Grand Final debutants was to stick to the basics in this weekend’s match.
“The advice has been to keep it simple,” Jack said.
“Enjoy the week, because it’s a great week to be a part of.
“This is what you play football for, but the message to our young boys it to keep going the way they’ve been going all year.
“Harry Cunningham, Jake Lloyd and Gary Rohan recently have been super and they are really playing their role for the team.
“We know there’s going to be a big crowd, obviously around 100,000 people, so we don’t want them to be overawed by it, we want them to soak it up early and to enjoy it for what it is and to have no regrets.”
Despite Sydney often being viewed as a quieter AFL environment, journalists and camera crews from across Sydney and Melbourne turned out for Tuesday’s open media session, which saw 16 Swans players available for interview ahead of this weekend’s match.
Jack, who took part in a similar session two years ago, said both the local and interstate media interest had created plenty of hype around the game.
“It’s a Grand Final and this is the big dance, so it’s great to see all of the media here, and I think we should get a good crowd out to the open training session,” he said.
“It’s all part and parcel of being in an AFL Grand Final.
“I’m sure it’s a little bit bigger in Melbourne and that’s understandable, but certainly you can see from the media here today that it’s generated quite an interest.”
Jack said he was expecting the interest in the Swans to grow exponentially when the team lands in Melbourne on Thursday evening.
“It will probably hit us when we get to Melbourne,” he said.
“There will probably be a stack of media there when we get off the plane.
“It’s just a great week to be a part of and we’re really looking forward to it.”
