Sydney forward Charlie Curnow delivered his defining Swans moment, booting seven goals in the 66-point victory over the Western Bulldogs.
Curnow had gone goalless on two occasions this year and had struggled to light the world on fire despite ticking over the scoreboard.
But against the Bulldogs, the former Blue announced himself, ultimately paying dividends on the Swans' bold decision to send three first-round picks to Carlton at the end of last year.
"It's always good to see keys hit the scoreboard. For mine, it wasn't purely about him kicking a big bag, it's about making sure that he's playing and gelling as part of a forward six or seven group where we're the No.1 scoring team that doesn't just rely on Charlie kicking big goals," Sydney coach Dean Cox said.
"We want to make sure that we always have multiple avenues, and tonight he took his turn. Though he presented, he put his defender into some dangerous positions, and what happens up the field allowed him to do that."
Before the Bulldog thrashing, Curnow had kicked 12 goals from six starts, but his latest performance was reminiscent of his 2022-2023 Coleman Medal-winning best.
And the Swans haven't finished improving, with Brownlow Medal fancy Isaac Heeney still to return from a calf issue.
Heeney was ruled out of Round 7 with tightness, and given the longer break before next week's Melbourne clash, Cox is positive he'll return.
"He's okay, got to our main training session (and it) just became a little bit too close to the game. So, the option medically was to not play, and we expect him to train at the back end of next week and be available next Sunday against Melbourne," Cox said.
"We've had imagining done. It's just about trying to get that right. Then he just goes into the training plan. We've got a nine-day break, so we've got a chance to train, and he'll be a part of that."
