ORDINARILY, Dean Cox would be wishing Nic Naitanui all the best in his comeback game.

Except that Cox changed camps over summer and will be watching the star West Coast ruckman's comeback game while wearing the red and white of Sydney from the opposition coach's box.

He and Naitanui enjoyed a great pairing for West Coast for the six years they played together and was then his position coach from 2015. Naitanui injured his ACL in round 22, 2016 and hasn't played since.

So, he's happy to see Naitanui back, but only to a point.

"It's good to see Nic back. Not just West Coast but all AFL fans want to see the best players playing," said Cox, who joined the Swans at the end of last season.

"He's played one practice match for East Perth coming off a knee reconstruction and hopefully he builds into some form rather than start with a bang.

"They wouldn't be playing him if they didn't think he was ready, but he's just another West Coast player we have to take care of this weekend."

Cox spoke to Naitanui before his WAFL practice game for East Perth but has kept his distance from all the Eagles this week.

"It's all about business for Sydney," he said.

The Swans had a light run at the new Optus Stadium on Saturday morning.