The 26-year-old said his status as the most likely player to win best on ground honours would not be any more off-putting than being an unbackable favourite to take out the Brownlow medal, which was won Carlton’s Chris Judd on Monday night.
“I probably copped more of it when people thought I was just going to walk away with the Brownlow,” Swan told afl.com.au on Friday.
“Every time there is a medal up for grabs, I seem to be the favourite.
“I haven’t won one yet so I don’t know why I’m a favourite, but I certainly want to go out and put in a good show.”
On Friday, Swan was tipped at $5.00 to win the Norm Smith Medal from teammates Scott Pendlebury ($7.00) and Alan Didak ($8.00), while St Kilda captain Nick Riewoldt was also listed at $8.00.
Swan said he forgot about the disappointment of missing out on football’s most prestigious individual prize the instant grand final training started earlier this week.
“As soon as the night was over, I just focused on the game this weekend,” he said.
“It was a good distraction; it kept me reasonably busy this week so I haven’t had time to worry about either the game or the Brownlow.
“I just really can’t wait for the ball to bounce now.”
Swan’s teammates Tyson Goldsack and Nathan Brown were the hard luck stories of grand final week for the Magpies, with the duo dropped to make way for Simon Prestigiacomo and Leon Davis.
Swan said the two young players had handled themselves admirably since being told of their omission.
“Unfortunately there’s always going to be heartbreak for one or two players - that’s the nature of the beast,” he said.
“For those two guys, they have been great so far. They’ve really put on a brave face around the group and have really helped get the boys’ energy levels up.
“They have to miss out, but hopefully we can come away with a premiership for them.”
Swan said Prestigiacomo’s selection was prompted by coach Mick Malthouse’s belief in his ability against the St Kilda forwards and not swayed by the possibility of the game being the veteran defender’s last.
“As Mick’s said before, there’s not a lot of room for sentiment in footy,” he said.
“They’ve picked him because he’s purely the best man for the job and not because it could be his last game.
“Mick is purely horses for courses, and that’s why they’ve gone with ‘Presti’ and Leon.”
