Goodes eager for Sydney Swans to win this year's premiership

However, at 34 years of age the 351-game veteran remains as hungry for premierships as ever.

It’s not the influx of new players, including Maitland’s first AFL draft pick Isaac Heeney, that drives the 2014 Australian of the Year to go around again, but the chance to claim another flag for the Sydney Swans. 

“What keeps me refreshed is another opportunity to win a premiership,” Goodes told the Mercury.

“What I look to in these younger players is how they are going to help me win that premiership.

“The role for me is then to upskill them and give them as much knowledge, as much encouragement and as much support as possible.

“For me every year is refreshing because it’s another opportunity to win a premiership, that’s what we go out there to do.”

The Swans came close last season, but fell at the final hurdle to Hawthorn in the 2014 decider. 

Goodes, who visited Maitland for the first time yesterday with Heeney as part of the club’s annual com­munity camp, said Sydney have the chance to reclaim their prize from three years ago.

Read what the Mercury has to say here

“Obviously it was disappointing, Hawthorn were good on the day and we were bad on the day and we have to wait a long time to rectify that,” Goodes said.

“But we are getting into practice match mode now and it’s time to ­really start to put into practice all the things we have been talking about over summer to make us a better team.”

Goodes has only recently returned to training after going through injury rehabilitation and, while he hasn’t spent a lot of time with Heeney, he has been impressed.

“From what I have seen he is a very hard worker and he wants to learn, and that’s what you want from a first year player,” Goodes said.

“If he keeps that up he is going to have no trouble being a successful player in our group, learning to be a Blood and learning our culture.”

The Swans season opener will be against Essendon in Sydney on April 4.