Johnson announced on Monday that he will hang up the boots at the end of the Dogs’ finals campaign, ending a career which will have spanned 363 games after Saturday night’s semi-final.
O’Keefe expected the Bulldogs, who suffered a 62-point loss qualifying final loss to Collingwood, to be at their best at the MCG.
“No doubt for a bloke like Johnno who’s played 300-plus games and been a legend of the club, they’d want to send him out on a good note. I’m sure they’ll rise to the occasion for Johnno,” he said.
“He’s a great footballer and a great person and the respect that he’s earned across the whole league is huge, so I think the Dogs will want to give him a send-off as well as we’d want to give Kirky.”
O’Keefe echoed the thoughts of Swans coach Paul Roos, who said on Monday that his side couldn’t afford to take the Bulldogs lightly.
“There can be a little bit of false confidence if we go in thinking that the Dogs have got some injuries and they’re going to be weakened,” he said.
“All teams have injury problems … and they’ve got some really good players that can really hurt you. Big Baz can kick a bag and they’ve got some quality midfielders so any player who steps in for the Bulldogs is going to be tough opposition.”
The Swans could be bolstered by Daniel Bradshaw (knee) and Ben McGlynn (cheekbone) for the cutthroat clash on Saturday night.
Both moved freely in Tuesday's warm-up, with Bradshaw hitting full pace in several run-throughs under the eye of elite performance manager Rob Spurrs.
“I don’t think we‘ve got too many guys with a huge amount of finals experience,” O’Keefe said.
“There were a lot of guys who played their first final on the weekend, especially in our forward line. To have someone of Daniel’s calibre and experience would be good to steady the ship.”
O’Keefe conceded he had been struggling with a groin injury for most of the season and he would still be below full fitness against the Bulldogs.
However, he bobbed up with a vital last-quarter goal in the five-point elimination final win over Carlton and he was confident of playing his role against the Bulldogs.
“I don’t know percentage-wise but it obviously has hampered me. I’ve still been able to contribute, which is the main thing,” he said.
Asked how it affected him most, O’Keefe said: “I don’t want to give away all my weaknesses; I’m still playing.
“Obviously it’s restricted me a bit but I’ve had to adapt my game and I think I’ve done that successfully enough. There’s just another three weeks to get through now.”
