Watch Darren Jolly address the media ahead of facing his former side

DESPITE spending five successful years in a one-team town with the Sydney Swans, Darren Jolly says nothing could have prepared him for life as a Collingwood player.

As the Magpies ready themselves for Saturday night’s big clash against the Swans at ANZ Stadium, Jolly said he had been taken aback by the size and passion of Collingwood’s supporter base in the first half of the season. 

“Being an outsider looking in, I knew Collingwood were big but I suppose I didn’t realise how big they were until I got here,” he said.

“Both teams are very similar in that they both have fantastic people involved with them… but the biggest difference is just the amount of people who do follow Collingwood and are so passionate about watching their team.

“The Sydney-Collingwood game was probably the biggest game, apart from the finals, of the season when I was playing for Sydney.

“You’d always attract the biggest crowd of the year, but being here in Melbourne and playing for Collingwood, they average 50, 60, 70,000 people a game.”

A healthy travelling contingent of Magpie fans is likely to be on hand at ANZ Stadium to cheer on their side as Collingwood attempts to extend its eight-game winning streak against the Swans.

With rain forecast for the rest of the week, Jolly expected his old team to attack the contest with its customary vigor on what is likely to be a wet ground.

However, he refuted the suggestion that a soggy surface would play into the hands of the Swans’ stoppage-heavy game plan.

“It doesn’t bother us at all. It just means there will be more stoppages, which Sydney love, and we’re looking forward to it,” he said.

“There are going to be a heap of stoppages anyway, and we’re prepared for that, so I don’t think it suits anyone [in particular].

“We’ve made no secret that we want to finish top-four so we need to take every game in the next half of the season seriously and we want to win every game to give us the best possible chance in the finals.”

Upon joining Collingwood, Jolly conceded he had taken careful note of when the Magpies were scheduled to play the Swans and although it hadn’t been a focus in recent weeks, he said he was excited the encounter had arrived.

And he said the banter with his former teammates had already begun, including messages to one of his likely opponents on Saturday night, rookie ruckman Mike Pyke.

“I’ve kept an eye on [Pyke] and he’s going really well. He had all the attributes - obviously a big jump and he’s big and strong. He just had to learn the tricks and the craft and where to run around the ground, and he’s slowly picking it up,” Jolly said.

“Certainly his intensity and want to contest has never been questioned and he’s going really well.”