IT JUST had to be Tom Papley.

With Sydney a raging underdog entering Saturday's qualifying final against Brisbane, it was Papley who tackled, terrorised and tormented Brisbane with a virtuoso five-goal performance to spearhead his team's remarkable 53-point hammering of the two-time premier.

SWANS v LIONS Full match coverage and stats

He had plenty of mates – Logan McDonald came of age with six goals, Charlie Curnow played the best game of his finals career with five, and Errol Gulden was magnificent with 34 touches - but when the Swans and their partisan home crowd of 37,261 needed a spark, it was Papley,

Not only did the 30-year-old firestarter put in one of the best performances of his 215-game career, he did so after looking like he could have been a late withdrawal.

Papley appeared to be favouring a calf during Sydney's warm-up 45 minutes before the first ball-up, leaving the field alongside a trainer with a disgruntled look on his face.

Then, following the national anthem and just minutes before the game's start, he was still receiving treatment flat on his stomach in the middle of the SCG while his teammates were put through their final paces.

But once the ball went in the air, Papley was the Energizer Bunny he, and the crowd, needed.

Missing suspended stars Isaac Heeney, Chad Warner and Nick Blakey – among five players in total – the Swans' A-graders needed to soar, and Papley did just that.

He finished with five goals from 16 disposals that included a match-high 13 score involvements, impacting the game both with and without the ball.

After Brisbane kicked its first goal through Eric Hipwood, Papley responded just 30 seconds later when he pounced on a loose ball and snapped truly with his left foot.

In his usual trademark fashion, the dynamic small forward tore around the field to hype up his teammates. The energy giver had laid the foundations for a big day.

The crowd was roaring, the ‘Syyyydney' chant was ringing around the ground and any thought of the Swans being underdogs was quickly banished.

Papley added another later in the term when Jaspa Fletcher was adjudged to have rushed through a behind under insufficient pressure and the home team had established a healthy 26-point lead.

The second quarter was more of the same, but this time it was Papley's defensive pressure that brought him into the game.

He locked up opponent Noah Answerth with a textbook ball-and-all tackle at half-forward, quickly rose to his feet and delivered a perfectly weighted pass into the path of McDonald for another goal.

The tackle was emblematic of a Swans outfit that totally outhunted their opponents and relied on a system rather than individual talent.

“Sometimes it (system) might look flashy, and there's a lot of talent, but the backbone of it, 80 per cent of it, 90 per cent of it, is hard work and desire, and pressure, and doing your bit for the team,” Papley said in the victorious dressing-room post-match. 

“Not once did I think we couldn't win. We always believe inside the four walls in our system.

“It didn't matter who was out, because it doesn't require a system of sheer talent. It's hard work, and we always believe in that.”

It was one of his four direct goal assists in the game.

In the third quarter, Papley simply put the game to bed.

Like the Swans did so often, immediately following a Josh Dunkley goal to open the half, they responded from the next centre bounce with a wonderful right foot snap from their classy No.11.

With Brisbane still within touching distance midway through the term he kicked a fourth for breathing space and then brought the crowd to fever pitch when nailing Answerth for a second time and then drilling the set shot from 50m.

Papley's performance was a complete contrast to Brisbane counterparts Charlie Cameron and Kai Lohmann, who went goalless with just four and nine disposals, respectively.

If you want a man in your corner with your team's collective backs against the wall, you'd be hard-pressed to find someone better than Tom Papley.