The Hunter product is set to be a Swan for life after signing a six-year deal with the AFL club this month.

As the star forward embarks on his eighth season, Heeney believes he is part of a group who can challenge for the championship flag.

"We've got a group that can do something pretty special and really contend for a fair few years to come," Heeney told Australian Community Media

"I think I've signed at the right time. We've got a good, talented side here and, if we get everyone working together and get a bit of continuity with each other, I believe we can do some serious damage at the back end of the season."

After experiencing the pain of falling short in 2016, Heeney said leading Sydney to grand-final glory in the next six years was "his biggest goal".

The Swans open their 2022 campaign against GWS Giants at Accor Stadium on Saturday.

"It's a tough start for us," Heeney said. "We're versing some pretty good sides, so it's going to be a good test early. We probably need to win a minimum of three out of five to set the season on the right foot.

"We've got the Giants first up and they've had the wood over us, so we need to make sure we can get one back on them. I'm sure we can and I feel confident about it."

The 25-year-old Cardiff Hawks junior took time out of his pre-season schedule last week to head back to where it all began, albeit virtually.

Heeney dialled in to primary schools across the Hunter last week as part of a Community Camp, where he talked to students about the sport and helped run Auskick sessions.

"It's good to see AFL growing but it needs people like us to show there is a pathway there, and if you dream hard enough and you work hard enough you can achieve that," Heeney said.

Heeney welcomed the prospect of the Hunter have more representation at the elite level with the region directly feeding into the Swans women's side, which is set to join AFLW in August.

He told ACM he would also love to see an elite-level game played at Newcastle's upgraded No.1 Sportsground.

"I think it would be an amazing place to have [a game]," Heeney said.

"I played a lot of footy there - finals and grand finals as a kid and it was an amazing oval.

"When I first started playing at eight, AFL wasn't very big. There wasn't much talk, if any talk, about AFL back then, and within the last five years you can just see the game growing exponentially around those areas, and especially places like Newcastle.

"It's good to have a women's side coming in to the Swans and it's exciting just to see how much it has grown."

Heeney booted a career-best 36 goals from 21 games last year.