On having been in a position of playing in a preliminary final before

"We were speaking about that this morning, a few of us, but no, I'm very grateful to be here. Obviously, the Swans, for a long time, have been playing footy this time of year and I'm very grateful to be at this club and my third prelim final in my sixth year now, so I'm very grateful and can't wait."

On the support from the Sydney fans

"Yeah, it's exciting. They were very loud for the first final against Brisbane and we're going to need them again. Yeah, very influential. We love when they got that Sydney chant going, so can't wait.  Our fans have been great all year. We like to protect our home ground, so we try and make it as hard as we can for them to come over here and, yeah, they help us play our best, that sort of 19th man."

On the side's last match against Fremantle

"Yeah, obviously they've been the clear best side all year in the competition, clear on top of the ladder. So, we've got no illusions that it's going to be a really tough task for us and, yeah, they were very good that day a few weeks ago. So, it's a different team from then now for us. So, we've got some few learnings about how we're going to sort of attack that and I'm pretty confident that we can sort of give them a good fight. 

On what's changed from Fremantle's Qualifying and Semi Final games

"Yeah, like I said, I think that was probably more of a blip in the radar. They haven't had many performances like that for the year. So, they've been the clear best team, their contest, they got stars all across the ground, so we're under no illusions that they're just going to roll over here and give it to us. So, yeah, we've got to be at our best if we're any chance."

On his own game in the Semi Final win against Brisbane

"Yeah, I don't know. I was just very lucky. The team played a really good game all across the park. Everyone contributed and played their role. And I was just lucky to get on the end of a couple, I guess and, yeah, hopefully we can do a bit more, get on the end of a few more Friday."

On whether it gave him more confidence heading into this week's game

"Yeah, I think so, but no more so than other weeks, I think. As a collective, our form over the last six weeks has been quite strong and we're quietly confident of what we can do and where our game sits at the moment. We've got players all across the ground playing strong roles and we've got some good players that are starting to contribute at the right time of the year. So, yeah, I think we're in a good spot."

On returning from injury last season

"Yeah, I think last year was obviously tough. There was a lot of unknowns and not a lot of answers. The club were very supportive with me, got some good people around me to help me get through that. And then, obviously, off-season, the club were great with getting Mr. Knowles over here to help rehab my ankle and had no setbacks since.  I haven't really had time to reflect, but maybe at the end of the year, I'll sit back and be pretty proud of where I've come from 12 months."

On playing alongside Buddy Franklin and Charlie Curnow

"Yeah, I think I'm very fortunate to play with two of the best forwards ever. Obviously, when I came in very young with Bud, I was in absolute awe of him and just looked up to him with everything he can do. His training standards were as good as I've ever seen. He trained so hard and even though his body probably didn't allow him to at times, he didn't let a moment go to waste. I was very lucky to sit back for my first couple of years and watch him go about it. And getting Charlie this year, I'm so grateful that the club have got him. He's such a good person. We've obviously seen what he can do on the field. But the way he's helped my development and tried to put me in positions to succeed, I think it's helped bring the best out of me. I'm so happy that he's had the year that he's had because he deserves every bit of it."

On the attitude of the group with missing players

"Like we've spoken about all year, our game plan is we build our system around no individuals. It's built around the roles and we've got full confidence. We spoke about all pre-season that it's going to take a full squad mentality to do anything this year. The boys that have come in have really bought into that. We still think we've got enough talent across the park to be able to win the game."

On Joel Amartey

"It's always tough this time of year. He's obviously such a good player and was having such a strong part of the year for us. We've got training after this obviously and it's obviously going to be a tough decision for the coaches to decide what the mix will be. But he'll put his best foot forward and he's been second to none throughout the whole process."

On if the forward line is doing anything differently this season

"Yeah, I think we've changed some things, like the way we play. It's not just the front six, but the way we've moved the ball from the back half has probably helped us kick a lot of goals. I think Simon Goodwin coming in has really helped with that. He's very good weekly with our ball movement meetings and makes it really clear of how we're going to break down the opposition each week. To be honest, it all comes off the back of our defence. You find in the games we defend the best we score the most points. It's just making sure we buy into that side of the game.

On Errol Gulden

"I absolutely love him. He's my best mate. I'm happy to see how good he's going and I'm not surprised at all. He works so hard. If you watch him train, the amount of rehab. When he was recovering from his shoulder, he was the first one in, last one on leave every time. I'm so happy for him. He deserves every bit of this. The amount he puts back into the club as well. It's good to see him start to get recognised a bit more. I think people might have forgotten how good of a player he actually was. But we certainly didn't inside our club and we're very grateful he's on our side."

On the young players stepping up

"I think things happen so quick. Probably a month ago, they didn't think they'd be getting the opportunity in the final series. As we know, things changed. Here they are, playing in a home prelim. They've given us so much energy, the buzz. We're leaning on them to play their role as much as they're leaning on us. I'm so happy for them. They've all worked so hard. The VFL team has had a really good year as well. We're extremely happy for them. We've got full confidence that they can contribute on the weekend."