SYDNEY star Luke Parker admits the memory of last year's Grand Final thumping will spur the Swans on against Geelong on Saturday night, but says there are no mental scars from that devastating defeat.

Sydney meets the Cats for the first time since Geelong dished out an 81-point shellacking to win the 2022 premiership.

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GMHBA Stadium is a ground the Swans hold an impressive recent record at, having won four of their past five visits to the venue, and they'll make the trip this year with the memory of a Grand Final performance they deemed "embarrassing" themselves in the back of their minds. 

"I think for us going down to Geelong is a tough match in itself. There is the history of what happened last year, and it might spur the boys on a bit but for us it's just about trying to perform to the ability that we can," Parker said.

Those who have played down the Swans' prospects of contending for the premiership in 2023 have used the heavy Grand Final loss as the rationale for that, but Parker is adamant there is no lingering mental impact from that day.

"I don't think so, the way boys are playing shows we're playing in the moment and ready to have another crack," he said.

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"It (the rematch) was always going to come up at some stage and we're just excited to come up against the best side in the competition and challenge yourself against the best and see where you're at."

Whether the Cats are still the best side in the AFL or not might be a point of conjecture right now, but there is little rejection of Jeremy Cameron's claims as the best player in the competition at the minute.

The best-and-fairest winner at the reigning premiers has kicked 22 goals in the first five weeks of the season to lead the Coleman Medal by four majors and that poses a monumental threat to the Swans, who will almost certainly go into the clash without their three premier key defenders.

Tom McCartin did some work at training on Wednesday but is unavailable with concussion, while his brother Patty is sidelined after the head knock against Port Adelaide a fortnight ago.

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Co-captain Dane Rampe was also on the track on Wednesday but after missing last week is rated an outside chance to face the Cats.

That leaves the Swans severely undersized to take on Cameron and Tom Hawkins with Robbie Fox, Nick Blakey and second-gamer Will Gould the options to match up on a key forward combination that is at least the equal of any in the AFL.

"'Jezza' is on fire at the moment, he's kicking bags of goals every week. Hopefully not this weekend but we've got a system in place we trust," Parker said.

"I'm not sure who gets that role, whether it's 'Blakes' or 'Foxy', but no doubt we'll put some time into him, and those boys will relish the challenge."

Eagles premiership player Will Schofield suggested the only way to stop Cameron at the moment is being overly physical against him, but Parker isn't sure that's the answer.

"He's a fiery bloke so it probably winds him up and then he wants to just take everyone on. I don't know about bashing him, you can't do too much these days," he said.

Having Patty McCartin available to intercept in front of the Cats superstar forward would certainly help and while the Swans defender was watching on at training again on Wednesday, the focus is still on his recovery from another concussion before any call is made on whether he'll play again.

"He's going well, he's in at the club at the moment and going about his business. He's got a bit ahead of him and got some decisions to make but he's his usual self around the club and that's great," Parker said.

Sydney will be buoyed by its record at a ground that many feel is the toughest place to win in the AFL, having beaten Geelong in four of their past five clashes at GMHBA Stadium.

"We do have a good record down there. I think it's one of those where you really steel yourself for the challenge, the whole crowd is against you and it's just the 22 guys together trying to get it done. It can be a real momentum builder going forward," Parker said.

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It's an enormous challenge for an undermanned Swans side, which is likely to again be without Lance Franklin.

But as for three-time best-and-fairest winner in Parker, who with 265 games is seventh on the all-time list at Sydney, the challenge is still one he's relishing in his 13th year in the competition.

"Yeah, chugging along," he joked.

"I'm all good, injury free which is great. Feeling good, feeling passionate and just loving working with the young guys in the midfield and hopefully taking us to another level."