The undefeated Swans have been quietly rebuilding their side with promising young players Daniel Hannebery, Gary Rohan, Lewis Jetta, Alex Johnson, Nick Smith, Craig Bird and Jesse White all showing glimpses of their talent.
However, it is the efforts of veteran players integral to the club's success that saw them win the 2005 premiership that continues to be a driving force behind the Swans.
While Brett Kirk and Craig Bolton have left in recent times, Bolton has taken on the role of being the heart and soul of the Swans in the midfield.
That even saw him somewhat reinvent himself by kicking six goals over the first two rounds. But on Saturday night in the win over West Coast he was at his tough and tenacious best.
He laid an AFL-record 19 tackles while collecting 20 possessions and kicking a clever third-quarter goal. Coach John Longmire has no doubt his efforts were massive in the eventual victory.
"It (tackling pressure) probably kept us in the game. Then our ball use improved, and we started to get the results when we were going forward. I thought there was probably a few efforts from some senior players that really made the difference in the last quarter," Longmire said.
"That's what he's made his name to be - an inside, hard midfielder and he's gone forward to kick goals this season, so he's adding a bit of variety to his game. As long as his foundation is the hard stuff then that's always going to maintain him."
Goodes has been the Swans' star performer for almost a decade and again on Saturday night he showed that he can take a game by the scruff of the neck.
Despite having a close tag from Adam Selwood, Goodes was able to go in the midfield and have a big impact with his explosiveness at clearances, and then go forward to take big marks and kick three big goals.
The thing Longmire is most impressed with is how he's taking on the responsibility to step up when the Swans need him to the most.
"Now he is really in crunch times, whether it's forward or midfield, stepping up to even another level again," Longmire said.
"That's been really evident the last couple of weeks. At important times in the game he has stepped up.
"He is a class player and can kick goals, but when he went into the midfield at different times he had a real influence."
