'Don't need to change': Swans ready for Cats AFLW test

"Naturally it always goes up another level in finals anyway, and we talked about it all last week. We talked about the contest, the pressure and what's required from finals football," O'Riordan said on Tuesday.

"But at the same time we don't need to change too much of what we do. 

"We know we're a good pressure team and if we bring that level of pressure and that level of heat every single week - finals or no finals - it stacks up."

Sydney's 7.4 (46) to 2.5 (17) victory over the Western Bulldogs on Sunday was the Swans' first finals triumph since 2023.

After finishing sixth on the ladder, the Swans will need to find another level to progress to a maiden preliminary final, against back-to-back premiers and title favourites North Melbourne.

But O'Riordan is quietly confident in his young team, while hugely respectful of Geelong.

"A brand of footy we want to play is a high-contest, high-pressure game and, to be honest, yes maybe it does stack up in finals," he said.

"So maybe it's an advantage initially.

"But I go off facts and Geelong are the second best team in the comp this year. That's where they sat on the table at the end of the home-and-away season, so that's what we go off.

"They're going to be worthy favourites for the game, and they should be playing back in GMHBA (Stadium), which they're pretty good at."

The 29-point defeat of the Bulldogs came in wet and windy conditions in Sydney, and the Swans are preparing to tackle the Cats after more forecast rain this weekend.

"There's a really clear difference between wet-weather footy and dry-weather footy," O'Riordan said. 

"The girls at the weekend handled that really well, and we need to come up with a plan for both and prepare accordingly.

"Hopefully the BOM are as accurate as they usually are, but we look ahead to the conditions and can take some confidence in the fact that we played in those conditions last weekend."