THE SYDNEY Swans' home-ground knowledge could be a major advantage when they meet West Coast on Saturday afternoon, clearance king Josh Kennedy says.

As with most AFL games the result hinges on the midfield battle, and the round five clash will showcase some of the best onballers in the competition, as well as two quality ruckman in Swan Kurt Tippett and athletic Eagle Nic Naitanui.

Kennedy had the second most disposals the League last year behind teammate Dan Hannebery, and led the competition for contested possessions, clearances and hard-ball gets, establishing himself as the best inside midfielder in the game.

After a quiet game by his standards in round one this season, his last three weeks have been brilliant, and he's ranked first for centre clearances, equal third for general clearances and equal seventh for contested possessions.

The 27-year-old's ability to extract the footy from stoppages is a major weapon for the Swans, and he believes winning the centre breaks takes on even more significance this week at the SCG, where the Eagles haven't played since 2010.

"The heat is going to be on in the middle, especially with Nic Nat (Naitanui) in there, he's in tremendous form at the moment," Kennedy said.

"It's going to be a big focus for us this week trying to nullify that and get the game on out terms, especially from the centre bounces.

"The centre clearances become a lot more important with the smaller SCG and being able to get it deep into the forward line, so if we can get on top in that area it will go a long way to helping us winning the game.

"We also know how potent they are in the ruck/midfield combination, so it's going to be a huge battle and we're really looking forward to the contest."

Kennedy will play his 163rd AFL game this week and his 150th for the Swans, the club that helped turn him from a fringe player at Hawthorn into a dual All Australian and club champion, and premiership winner in 2012.

It's a significant milestone for the man who has flourished since leaving the Hawks, where his father John and grandfather John snr are household names, but this week Kennedy preferred to concentrate on the Eagles.

"I'm incredibly grateful for the initial opportunity to come up to Sydney and to actually get a game – I'll be eternally grateful for that," he said.

"You don't get much time during your career or week to week to reflect on what it means until you retire, and I think most players would say the same thing.

"Then you retire and look back on it as something you're really proud of, and I've got no doubt that'll be the case.

"At this stage with where the team is at you're focusing on the now and the opportunity that we have to win this week, and hopefully go on further in the year and make something special from what we've got."

After pre-season predictions that the Swans would be on the slide in 2016, coach John Longmire's men are once again being talked about as one of the teams to beat.

Kennedy once again deflected any of the hype surrounding his side, and said that while he believed they could win this year's flag, that was nothing out of the ordinary.

"Every year since 2012 we've believed that we've had the list to be able to win the premiership, and that’s what we're striving to do," he said.