O’Keefe wary of GIANT battle
By Dalton Woods
As the Sydney Swans prepare to face their cross-town rivals in the third Sydney Derby this weekend, 2013 Norm Smith medallist Ryan O’Keefe said the Swans would have to be at their best to face a vastly-improved GIANTS side.
“They’ve got the most improved side in this pre-season campaign,” O’Keefe said on Tuesday outside the SCG.
“I think they’ll be very competitive this year.
“They’ve come out hard and they’ve improved, and they go hard for the ball. It’s going to be competitive on Saturday, that’s for sure.”
When Sydney’s NAB Cup defeat at the hands of the GIANTS was mentioned, however, he dismissed it as irrelevant to the home and away season.
“Just watching the Freo-West Coast game and the Adelaide-Essendon game, you can tell the intensity really steps up.”
O’Keefe was uncertain if some of the younger players in the team would suffer from premiership hangover, saying that “we’ll just have to wait and see”.
The Premiership star insisted his, and the club’s, recent success would not go to his head.
“I’ve forgotten about that already.
“(After becoming premiers) there might be some external expectations on us, but we know what we have to do, and we need to make sure we keep going in that direction.”
Click here to get your tickets for GWS GIANTS v Sydney Swans at ANZ Stadium at 4:40pm this Saturday.
