Sydney Swan Andrejs hungry for piece of Pie

THE Swans have opted for the flexibility of Andrejs Everitt for the clash with Collingwood rather than looking for a replacement for Jude Bolton.

THE Swans have opted for the flexibility of Andrejs Everitt in tomorrow night's blockbuster at ANZ Stadium against Collingwood rather than looking for a direct replacement for injured veteran midfielder Jude Bolton.

Coach John Longmire will employ youngster Luke Parker in Bolton's role and bring in Everitt as another strike weapon at half forward.

Everitt's wildcard value has already been proven this season in the most emphatic fashion. In round 13 he kicked the winning goal inside the final 90 seconds at the SCG to torpedo a stunning comeback by premiers Geelong and continue the Swans' run, which has now reached nine straight victories.

Parker, who only recently returned from injury, has been transformed from handy addition to crucial component with the loss of Bolton."Luke is like a younger version of Jude," Longmire said.

After breaking his collarbone in the round 10 match against the Western Bulldogs, Parker is steadily working his way back to the brilliant form he showed earlier in the season.

Two matches in the reserves have been followed by another two in the seniors over recent weeks against Gold Coast and Carlton.

"The good thing about the last couple of weeks is we've exposed him to senior footy," Longmire said.

"With Jude out, Luke is a similar type player but obviously not as experienced.

"When he (Parker) was in good form earlier in the year he was an important player for us."

The 10-match winning streak the Magpies have against the Swans is the longest of any side in the competition.

While conceding the Magpies have been too good for the Swans over recent years, Longmire believes the winning run has little if any bearing on the outcome tomorrow night.

"There's a big change of personnel, game styles are different, a whole range of things change from year to year and from month to month," Longmire said.

"We played St Kilda with an eight-week gap this year and those games were different."

If the Swans are to break the streak, a good start will be vital. And the Swans have jumped out of the blocks better than any team in the competition this year, leading at quarter-time 14 times. That is the best opening-quarter win/loss record of any side this season.

Better still, they then went on to win 13 of these games.

One man they will need to keep a close check on is key forward Travis Cloke, who picked up three Brownlow votes the last time the teams met at the same venue last year on the back of eight marks and six goals.

It's a performance that seems to have slipped the memory of co-captain Adam Goodes.

"My memory's not too good about the Pies. Maybe that's for a reason," Goodes said.

"Maybe I'm scarred or something.

"Look, he's a fantastic player. He takes more contested marks than any other player in the competition. But I back our defenders to do the job on him."