Sydney recruit Mark Seaby is intent on reversing all the training hidings he copped from former West Coast teammate Dean Cox, when the pair clash for the first time in the AFL at the SCG on Saturday.

Premiership-winning ruckman Seaby, who played for the Eagles against the Swans in the 2005 and 2006 grand finals, headed east after last season.

He has quickly formed an effective combination with another Sydney recruit, former Geelong big man, Shane Mumford.

Seaby 25, who made 102 appearances for the Eagles, was quick to acknowledge the lessons he'd learnt from four-time All-Australian representative Cox.

"I've learnt a lot from Dean, just training against him is probably where I've learnt most and hopefully I've learnt a few new tricks I can try," Seaby said on Monday.

"I've never really taken on Dean in a full-on contest, so I think it's a challenge, I've probably looking forward to for a while.

"He's been whupping me at training, but hopefully I can change it around this week."

Seaby anticipated the combination of Cox and boom Eagles' youngster Nic Naitanui would provide one of the more difficult challenges this year for Mumford and himself.

Cox was amazed by some of the things Naitanui did, while Seaby believed trying to follow other teams' lead and physically intimidate the youngster wouldn't necessarily work.

Cox said taking on Sydney's new ruck duo would be an exciting challenge for Naitanui and himself.

He wasn't surprised by Seaby's seamless and swift integration into the Swans' line-up.

"Seabs showed over here he's a quality AFL footballer, he's a premiership player," Cox said.

Cox believed he was a couple of weeks away from being able to run out a full game and was keen to regain the starting ruck spot from Naitanui.

"I think every player likes to start on the ground, that's what you play footy for," Cox said.

Cox said the game was speeding up every year.

"Us old slower blokes get the plod around and do our best, but I think certainly one thing I wish my parents gave me would be a bit more speed," Cox said.

He suggested capping the amount of interchanges would bring back more of the one-on-one midfield battles he believed were being squeezed out of the game by the consistent rotation of players.

"It would be great to see if they did cap it and then players are required to stay out there for a longer period of time and will play on one another and that's when you get those great one-on-one battles."

He described the absence of key midfielder Daniel Kerr for up to three months from a hamstring injury as "massive loss".

The Eagles will be playing their first fixture at the SCG since 2005.

Brought to you by AAP © 2024 AAP