"I don't think we go out there to deliberately make it ugly. We like the contests and we'll continue with that style. A team like Port like to get out in open spaces and we'll be trying to stop them."

"They are last year's grand finalists and have a lot of very good players, so it's going to be a tough assignment for us. We are going to have to be at our best to win."

"This week, we've been focusing on ourselves. We want to do what we can control and do what we can get right - goalkicking and a few other tactical things. We're not ignoring Port but we're mainly concentrating on ourselves."

"It was probably his turnaround game last year when he played on Chad Cornes so that might be something we are able to do, put him in a tagging role straight away and get him involved in the game."

"I think persistence more than anything. You can talk about run, open play and all that stuff, but I doubt it will happen. We're certainly not anticipating that. We think it will be a tight, hard-fought battle and that's what we're preparing for."

"The pitch had better be in good shape because they played a cricket game there about a week ago. History shows that it's usually like a rock, so I'm saying they better make sure it's safe for our players. Believe me, Paul Roos would be thinking exactly the same thing as me."

"Unfortunately we're not able to train on the ground beforehand which is one of my biggest bugbears when it comes to Brisbane and Sydney. I encourage the AFL to see what they can do in this situation."

"The fact is Sydney is going to pick 18 players on the field who are going to play on our players - that’s how they play, so bad luck - just get on with it."

"He's been back there a while and he's come through the system to play a few games alongside Darryl Wakelin, Matthew Bishop and Brett Montgomery, so that's been good for him and now he can help develop the others around him."

"St Kilda just won the pre-season cup and if their guns were down and they practically won the game, it just shows exactly what a quality side they are. So we need to be on top of our game, we're going over there positive and looking to have a win."

"He's a superstar of the competition and we do need to help him out. All Shaun needs is a two-step gap and he's got the pace to break away from anyone in the league. It's very exciting to see him running out in space and taking everyone on, that's the way we want to play and that's what he's good at."