HIS TEAMMATES are hellbent on bringing him back down to earth, but Justin McInerney remains a big talking point at Sydney heading into Saturday night's blockbuster against Brisbane after arguably the best outing of his 110-game career.

Cries of "give it a rest" and "move on, it was only one game" from the training track disrupted the wingman's Friday morning press conference momentarily and, while it was all in jest, it's a reminder of how big a statement the 25-year-old made against Carlton in Opening Round.

His 31 touches and three goals helped turn the encounter Sydney's way after a scrappy first half and proved that the Swans' midfield threats stretch beyond the big three of Errol Gulden, Isaac Heeney and Chad Warner.

"I guess you can look at it a bit that way, that they're going to put so much work into Isaac, Errol and Chad so hopefully you can get off the chain a bit," McInerney said.

"I just try and play my role and hopefully I can get a bit of a lick of the ice cream off the back of that. It's just so great to be able to play with players like that and add Nick Blakey into that as well, Tom Papley and Charlie Curnow,” he added.

His coach Dean Cox says it's the running power of McInerney that helped him piece together a performance that he had shown glimpses of producing in previous campaigns.

And it was a pre-season spent trying to match it with the very best at Sydney in that area that has led to his rapid start to 2026.

"I think a lot of it was based on competing with a lot of the other boys. I compared a lot of my game to Errol's in terms of running and that sort of thing and I had a bit of an earlier start because I started my PCL recovery earlier," he said.

The momentum of the Swans' remarkable 12-goal third term last week alongside Brisbane's litany of players missing through injury and suspension – Hugh McCluggage, Harris Andrews, Zac Bailey, Darcy Gardiner and Logan Morris – has Sydney positioned as warm favourite against the two-time reigning premiers.

But the nature of the Lions' narrow loss to the Western Bulldogs last week left a strong impression on the Swans.

"I'm not sure it's ever a good time to get them but I think if the same thing happened to us (with players missing) you'd be encouraging the next man up. (Sam) Draper's back this week, who's another great addition to them. It's still a really strong midfield," McInerney said.

"They lost by a kick, and they played some great footy. They've been a great team for so long. They've made three grand finals in a row, they're so well-coached and driven. We've obviously got our hands full this week."

Without Andrews and Gardiner down back though the threat of Charlie Curnow alongside Logan McDonald and Joel Amartey looms large if the Swans can win the ball and get it inside 50 quickly against an undermanned Lions backline.

"I assume they're going to have a plan for all our forwards, they've got a great system back there and I'm sure the personnel is not going to damage them too much," McInerney said.

"They're going to be ready to go so hopefully Charlie can just do what he's always done, compete and bring the ball to the ground."