The Sydney Swans crush the Western Bulldogs at the SCG

THE Swans have paid a high price for their 92-point smashing of the Western Bulldogs at the SCG yesterday.

Jetta

THE Swans have paid a high price for their 92-point smashing of the Western Bulldogs at the SCG yesterday.

Young midfielder Luke Parker broke his collarbone in a crunching - but fair - bump by Bulldog Matthew Boyd late in the third quarter and is set to miss six to eight weeks.

"He's a super young player who's hard and tough," Swans coach John Longmire said of the 19-year-old.

"I know he's super tough but I don't think he'll be coming back any quicker."

Parker's injury was the only lowlight for the Swans, who bounced back to form after losing three of their past four games. None more so than veteran Jude Bolton, who was best on ground with two goals and a career-high 41 possessions.

The 32-year-old revelled in the slippery and wet conditions.

"I grew up in Ballarat. It's pretty wet down there," Bolton said. "It's pretty basic sort of footy in the wet."

Bolton snapped the first goal of the game as the Swans piled on a remarkable 9.0 in the opening term to boast a 47-point advantage at the first break. Nine goals straight is the club's most accurate return in a first quarter - and the Swans' best score at quarter-time since booting 10.5 against Melbourne in 1997 at the MCG.

Longmire was delighted with the response from his team after he was highly critical of their effort against St Kilda last week.

"We thought the leaders and the experienced players led from the front," Longmire said. "Most players across the 22 brought to the table what they're good at."

Bolton looks set to continue his career past the term of his contract, which expires at the end of the season.

"My body feels as good as it did a couple of years ago," Bolton said.

Bolton is closing in on the 300-game milestone after playing his 289th yesterday.

If he doesn't miss a game, he will reach the mark in the round 22 match against Hawthorn at the SCG.

Bolton nominated last week's poor loss to St Kilda as the catalyst for the Swans' seventh win for the year.

"Watching the tape it was really disappointing around the stoppages (against the Saints)," he said. "We (the leaders) were disappointed with our talk. We just wanted to make a statement. If we're doing the right things, generally the young guys will do the same."

Also outstanding for the Swans were midfielders Dan Hannebery, Kieren Jack, Josh Kennedy, Lewis Jetta and Ryan O'Keefe.



In the first quarter, Trent Dennis-Lane and Jack both booted two goals.

And after struggling with accuracy in recent weeks, the Swans couldn't miss as Kennedy, O'Keefe and Lewis Roberts-Thomson nailed goals from all angles.

They were winning the physical battles as well. Ben McGlynn put the substantially bigger Brian Lake on his backside with a superb hip and shoulder, while defenders Rhyce Shaw and Ted Richards also did outstanding jobs in the backline.

Shaw negated the dangerous Luke Dahlhaus and Richards continued to control the game across half-back.

The Swans had the match well in their grasp at half-time with a 46-point lead and Jetta helped put it out of reach in the third term.

The speedster brought the crowd to life with a candidate for the goal of the year.

Starting at half-back, Jetta sprinted 80m, bouncing the ball to just inside 50 before unleashing a 45m bomb.

He followed it with another cameo just minutes later from a similar distance but from a more acute angle.

McGlynn was also in terrific form in matching Jetta's four goals.

The Swans now face Essendon at Etihad Stadium full of confidence.

"They've jumped up as a quality team and we need to come with our A-game next week," Longmire said.

Bulldogs coach Brendan McCartney is unsure whether the bye will be a help or hindrance to his "embarrassed" team.

"I'll know more in two weeks (about whether the bye has come at a good time)," McCartney said.

FULLTIME: SYDNEY 9.0 10.5 16.9 20.12 (132) WESTERN BULLDOGS 1.1 3.1 4.5 5.10 (40) Goals: Sydney: L Jetta 4 B McGlynn 3 T Dennis-Lane 3 J Bolton 2 K Jack 2 L Roberts-Thomson 2 S Reid 2 J Kennedy R O'Keefe. Western Bulldogs: L Picken 2 A Cordy M Wallis P Veszpremi. Umpires: Justin Schmitt, Chris Kamolins, Luke Farmer. Official Crowd: 13,505 at SCG.