Riverina product Harry Perryman will play at Lavington Sportsground for the first time on Friday night.
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Greater Western Sydney will meet fierce rivals Sydney on the opening weekend of the AFL's pre-season matches.
The Greater Western Sydney defender has watched games at the complex after growing up on a farm near Collingullie, around 75 minutes drive.
It will be the first elite event at the ground since its $19.6 million redevelopment was officially opened in November, 2020.
"I've never played there before, but knew how good it was before the changes, so I'm looking forward to getting out there," he offered.
The 23-year-old split his time between defence and the wing last season, but has been training predominantly off a half-back over summer.
"I think I've got a lot more improvement in me, I think this year I'll mainly play in the backline, try and settle in there for the year, which would be nice," he suggested.
"I'm more in the team to create off the half-back, be composed, use the footy well, link up with the midfield, that's the areas I'll keep working on."
During his 70-game career, Perryman has shown a tremendous ability to remain composed with an uncanny knack of weaving out of heavy traffic.
"I've always been pretty composed coming through the juniors, but it's definitely a tough one, especially in the AFL, it's pretty quick and frantic,' he revealed.
"I'm always trying to work on that (composure) at training, because it certainly helps your game and the team's."
The teams met in a riveting elimination final last season, with the Swans blowing a host of late chances to fall in a thriller.
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GWS had started the season poorly and was being written off by many, but raced home to win through to the second week of finals.
"We had a good chat with about five weeks to go in the (regular) season and we just wanted to enjoy our footy, be relaxed, and then we started winning games and built some momentum and we were a couple of men down as well," he explained.
Like all finalists, the Giants naturally boast a number of profile players, including co-captains Josh Kelly and Stephen Coniglio, who are both expected to play.
But the club also has a number of emerging players.
"Young Cooper Hamilton has been going well in the backline, big Matty Flynn, he's not one of the younger blokes now (24), he's been in good form in the ruck, Jake Riccardi up forward, he's into his third season now, so he's probably in for a big year as well," Perryman said.
Despite finishing the year superbly, the Giants haven't forgotten the battles of the opening months last season and what impact it had on their premiership hopes.
"We definitely want to go better than last year, if you're a fair dinkum chance you want to finish in the top four," he added.
The Giants were outside the top four, consigning them to sudden death finals.
Both teams will arrive on Thursday and hold separate captain's runs at the ground.
The Swans will host a 45-minute session from 4pm, with the Giants to follow.
Spectators are allowed to attend.
The match itself starts at 6pm on Friday, with Sydney snapping a five-year absence from the NSW venue.
Sydney played St Kilda in March, 2017, in a close clash, attracting an official crowd of 6893.
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