“To be top of the ladder - it’s still very, very early in the season, but it just shows with a great pre-season and form at the start of the year, results do come your way. We’ll take these wins while we can,” he said.
Roberts-Thomson told media at a training session on Tuesday that the team is looking forward to what is sure to be an important test this weekend against the Brisbane Lions.
“The game against the Lions this week is a huge challenge for us - we’re both sitting four and one. They’ve played some great footy and I think they’re going to come out firing this week no doubt. I’m sure it was a disappointing loss for the Lions (against Melbourne) and I’m sure they’ll want to rectify that this week.”
Roberts-Thomson, who has shown some career-best form so far this season, said shutting down Lions powerhouses Jonathan Brown and Brendan Fevola will be a team effort.
“I’ve played a little bit on Browny before, I’ve had some tough battles with him over the years. But when you play on quality players like Jonathon Brown it’s sort of a team effort anyway - you get blokes dropping back into the hole to try and fill space.
“Jonathon Brown and Fev are in the top four goalkickers in the league at the moment, they’ve got so many strings to their bow, they’re both great players and great athletes, so it’s hard to combat both of them.”
He also noted the need for players to step up in the absence of Craig Bolton, pointing at Ted Richards as a potential replacement for the co-captain; and credited the “great mix” of offensive and defensive players buoying the Swans’ list.
“It might be a little bit of added responsibility (the loss of Bolton), but our seconds at the moment are playing some really strong football so there’s players there that are really keen to step up and fill the senior players’ shoes… Someone like Teddy Richards has been playing some great footy in the twos, so he can just step straight into that role,” he said.
“We’ve got a great mix at the moment, there’s plenty of offensive run and then we’ve got a few shut-down roles down back. It’s a fantastic mix and it’s proved to be good for us.”
