THE SYDNEY Swans' class has proved too much for Richmond to counter as the Tigers suffered a 47-point loss to the reigning premiers at the SCG. 

After a free-flowing first quarter, Jesse White and Kurt Tippett shared seven goals as the Swans piled on 11 goals to the Tigers' four en route to a 16.14 (110) to 9.9 (63) victory. 

Kieren Jack (26 disposals), Ryan O'Keefe (30) and Tom Mitchell (25) were also among the Swans' best as they moved closer to shoring up a top-four berth. 

Dustin Martin was outstanding early for Richmond with two excellent first-quarter goals and ended with 30 disposals, while Jack Riewoldt clearly won his contest with Ted Richards, but only managed three goals from at least twice as many opportunities. 

Scores were level at the end of an entertaining opening stanza but the Swans were dominant from that point on. The hosts' superior ability to run both ways in the midfield was increasingly apparent as Jack, O'Keefe and Mitchell constantly found themselves with time and space that the Tigers rarely enjoyed. 

For all the Swans' ascendancy the gap was still only 15 points at half-time, but it blew open in the third quarter as White, who finished with four goals, began to dominate the Swans' forward half. 

White kicked two goals and could easily have had three for the quarter, proving to be a constant threat in attack. With Mike Pyke (one goal) and Tippett (three goals for the match) also bobbing up, Richmond's defence was simply unable to cope with the onslaught despite the best efforts of Alex Rance and Troy Chaplin. 

The Swans led by 33 points at the last change and when Mitchell booted the first goal of the final term, before spinning out of a pack and feeding O'Keefe who in turn found Jed Lamb for another major, the game was effectively over. 

"I thought the performance was really strong," Sydney Swans coach John Longmire said.

"We had a couple of turnover goals in the first quarter, but once we worked through that I thought that it was a really strong four-quarter effort by everyone in the team."

The Tigers' pain in defeat was compounded in the final term when Tyrone Vickery was carried from the field with concussion and Ricky Petterd suffered a suspected groin injury. 

Richmond remains sixth on the ladder with a narrow percentage margin over seventh-placed Collingwood while the Swans rise to third, half a game ahead of Essendon and half a game behind Geelong. 

"We started off OK but then we just couldn't control the ball at any stage," Tigers coach Damien Hardwick said.

"Sydney to their credit ran over the top of us."

Sydney Swans: White 4, Tippett 3, Mitchell 2, K. Jack 2, Lamb, B. Jack, Pyke, Smith, Bolton

Richmond: Riewoldt 3, Martin 2, Conca, Jackson, Vickery, White

Sydney Swans: O'Keefe, Jack, Mitchell, White, Bird, Tippett, McVeigh

Richmond: Martin, Riewoldt, Cotchin, Grigg, Jackson

Sydney Swans: Brandon Jack replaced by Harry Cunningham at three-quarter time

Richmond: Shane Tuck replaced by Matthew Arnot at three-quarter time

Reports: Nil

Umpires: Stevic, Stewart, Meredith

Official crowd: 29,738 at SCG