Stand-in Sydney captain Dane Rampe has spoken on the "worst" experience of past grand final heartbreak and the "bittersweet" feeling he'll carry into Saturday's decider after replacing injured skipper Callum Mills.
The Swans confirmed this week that Rampe will be promoted from his vice-captaincy role when Sydney and Brisbane go head-to-head, with Mills simultaneously ruled out of the game due to a hamstring strain sustained earlier this month.
The match will be Rampe's fourth chance to win a grand final, having lost to Hawthorn (2014), the Western Bulldogs (2016) and Geelong (2022) during his 250-game career.
Questioned on his journey to this year's final, the 34-year-old said he will be able to find some benefit from the prior heartbreak, but noted all of his focus will be placed on the Swans' side of the ledger.
"I've experienced the worst, let's be honest," Rampe said. "There's a little bit of peace knowing I've experienced that and been able to work through that and get back here.
"What I've learnt over the couple of losses that I've had is that no one cares about your story really. It'd be great for us to get back there and win after '22, and it'd be great for Brisbane to get back and make amends for last year. But they don't care about our story and we don't care about theirs, and that's the way it is.
"We have to go there and make it happen ourselves, that's probably the main thing."
Two years ago Rampe had to deliver a speech on the grand final dais to compliment and congratulate Geelong's reign, with the defender hopeful this year's post-siren ceremony will be more fortunate.
He'll take to Saturday's stage with mixed emotions after a difficult week for close mate Mills, with the pair sharing a moment shortly after the Swans captain was told he wouldn't play against the Lions.
"I think bittersweet is exactly the word," Rampe added.
"First of all, [I'm] shattered for a mate, one of my great mates and leaders of our club. We've been through a lot together. We had to push that aside.
"Me and him had a cry after the news on Wednesday afternoon. But as soon as that was done, the way 'Millsy' wanted it was to just move on and business as usual, and that's what it had to be."
Coach John Longmire said Mills has responded as a professional but was justifiably frustrated with the decision, having worked his way back from a serious shoulder injury and calf issues earlier this season.
The Swans boss detailed the decision-making that led to not naming Mills, stating it was a "tough" call but one the club is looking to move forward from.
"It's tough. You've got to make decisions," Longmire said.
"You sit down as a group with the medical conditioning staff and you go through everything, and then you've got to deliver the message.
"It's tough because Callum is a great person and a great leader for our footy club, but he also understands that decisions need to be made, and then jobs need to be done after that.
"He's absolutely behind the team, ready to go. That's just the sort of person he is, he's a wonderful person.
"(He reacted) as you'd imagine. He was disappointed. When we sort of weighed it all up and the risks going into a game like this, it just seemed to outweigh and go against Callum in that moment, even though he trained well.
"We had that discussion as a group, made the decision as a group, and then we get on with things."
Longmire said the Swans won't have to look far to find the needed leadership qualities to help fill the void Mills leaves, with the club's older statesmen and their emerging ranks bringing differing traits.
"He's obviously a top-line player, but we've played most of the season without him and we played the prelim final without him," Longmire said of Mills.
"We've got a strong core group of players, and whether it's Dane or some of the other more experienced players, those guys that have been around a bit. But it's also our younger guys, they've played a bit of footy together now and they've been taking the responsibility as well
"It's not just the more mature older guys in our group. We sort of rely upon our younger group as well coming through, who are able to lead in their own way. Sometimes that's in a bit of a different way but we found that really beneficial this year. That impacts the team in a really positive way."
The Swans are looking to secure their first AFL premiership since 2012, a title Longmire led Sydney to, with veteran Luke Parker the only member of the side set to feature in this year's grand final.
