The last time Henry Playfair walked off the SCG after a game he had every reason to never want to step foot on the ground again.

He might also have felt like wringing Nick Davis' neck.

The cheeky Sydney goalsneak had just produced one of the most remarkable last quarter performances, booting four goals to sink Geelong 7.14 (56) to 7.11 (53) in the dying seconds of the second semi-final of 2005.

A fortnight later the Swans collected the flag and Davis also produced a strong performance in Sydney's one-point grand final loss to West Coast the following year.

Meanwhile Playfair's career headed south at the Cats, being frozen out of the senior team last year as Geelong charged to premiership glory.

In the off-season the 25-year-old was traded to the Swans and back to the venue where the Cats had been so cruelly denied by Davis.

In a delicious slice of irony, Playfair will play his first game for the Swans at Davis's expense in Sunday's clash with the Western Bulldogs at the SCG.

The mercurial small forward has been dumped because of his questionable work-rate while Playfair comes in following his recovery from a hamstring injury.

The former Cat said that Davis had on occasion still mentioned his starring SCG performance from three years ago around the club.

Playfair admitted there would be a few nerves in his first outing in the red and the white.

"A new club, it feels a little bit like your first game," he said.

"But I've played 52 games so I don't really feel I'll be that nervous.

"I've played in finals and big games."

Playfair, who went to the same Sydney high school as teammate Lewis Roberts-Thomson, has no reason not to feel at home in the harbour city.

"There's a couple of guys I've played with in the juniors, Paul Bevan and Lewie and Jarrad McVeigh so that made it a bit easier coming up," he said.

"Both my sisters are here and some cousins and my grandparents as well.

"It's been a bit like a homecoming."

Sydney coach Paul Roos wasn't expecting too much from Playfair this weekend but suggested there could still be room for him in the forward line when Barry Hall returns in round 12.

"We're not expecting any miracles just a real competitive performance," he said.

"I've got no doubt he's got AFL talent, it's just a matter of opportunity and making sure expectations aren't too high initially."

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