KURT Tippett underlined just how important he could be to the Sydney Swans this September with his six-goal haul against the Western Bulldogs on Sunday.

On a day when the Swans and Bulldogs waged a hard-fought battle in the midfield, Tippett gave the Swans the strong target in attack that the Bulldogs often lacked. 

Tippett's 6.0 return marked just the third time in his career he had kicked six or more goals. 

It was his best haul since round 14, 2010, when he kicked 6.1 for his former team Adelaide against Essendon. And it was behind only his career-best haul of 7.1, also against the Bombers, in round 11, 2009.


Many thought Tippett would give the Swans a massive boost in their premiership defence when – after a dramatic trade period – they eventually acquired him in last year's pre-season draft.

Swans coach John Longmire praised Tippett's performance against the Bulldogs, but said the spearhead had played well ever since coming into the Swans' team in round 13.

"We think he's been really good since the first game he played for us," Longmire said at his post-match press conference.

"(After) a long time out of the game (through suspension), he came straight back into the team and he's been playing well for us every week. 

"He's been kicking his three goals a week and having six or seven shots at goal and, today, the accuracy meant that he had a big impact in far as goals kicked. 

"So he's been going well."

Longmire was also buoyed by the return of defender Rhyce Shaw, who played his first match on Sunday since round two after struggling to overcome an abdominal injury.

"We thought going into the game if he was able to play 80 minutes that would be a good result," Longmire said of Shaw, who was substituted from Sunday's game at the 12-minute mark of the final quarter. 

"He was able to do that and get through the game and pull up really well. 

"He feels really good at the moment. He could have kept playing - that's a good sign for us." 

Longmire said injured trio Sam Reid (quadriceps), Adam Goodes (knee) and Lewis Jetta (shin) were still 3-4 weeks away from returning.

"Reidy's running really well, he ran well last week, he ran well this week. But he's had two quads and we need to be reasonably conservative with him," Longmire said.

"Goodesy will be running outside this week and so is Jetta."

Although buoyed that Saturday's win took the Swans past Geelong into second place on the ladder, Longmire refused to contemplate how much of any advantage a home qualifying final would be.

"We're still four weeks out so it's not something we look too far ahead because we saw what happened over the weekend," Longmire said, referring to Hawthorn and Geelong's upset losses.

"There were some results that can go either way and it can happen pretty quickly." 

Nick Bowen is a reporter with AFL Media. Follow him on Twitter @AFL_Nick