SYDNEY vice-captain Luke Parker believes his side has found the mental strength and will needed to win close games after it went missing earlier this season.

The Swans pulled off a miracle comeback against Essendon on Friday night to win with a Gary Rohan goal after the final siren, less than a week after running down Richmond by kicking eight of the last nine goals of the match at the MCG.

Parker said the Swans had been practising match simulations over the past month in a bid to turn around their poor finishing – they lost to Collingwood by one point at the SCG in round three and to Hawthorn by six points at home in round 10 – and the results had been telling.

Sydney was far more composed than the Tigers, and capitalised on some poor Bombers turnovers on Friday night, which Parker said they wouldn't have done in the tight games earlier in the year.

"The main thing is that everyone knows their role and is on board with what to do when you're down, or up by a couple of points," he said.

"You've got to keep drilling it, because if you drift for a second you can cost the team the game.

"They're the things that really test you, those sorts of games, so it's great to see the character we have in the playing group.

"Not going back into our shells is the thing that’s tests us (the most), and that’s what stands up in finals.

"As much as you'd like to have every game wrapped up by three-quarter time, at some stage the close ones are going to happen, so to get that experience into the young boys and have them stand up is outstanding."

The Swans' victory over Essendon landed them inside the top eight for the first time this season, albeit briefly after St Kilda and the Western Bulldogs also won and pushed them down to 10th at the completion of round 14.

Parker said the prospect of coming from a disastrous 0-6 start to win the flag wasn't anything the players had spoken about, but the belief that they could have an impact during this year's finals series had never left the group.

"We've got another big challenge in Melbourne, but we're not in the eight yet, so we're still hunting that spot," he said.

"We know what we can control, and the reality is the competition has gone to another level.

"Teams are really coming to hunt the best sides, and last year we were one of the best sides, so obviously every week teams were coming at us and wanting to knock us off.

"We cost ourselves a little bit (with early losses) but we're willing to put in the work and we do think we can do something special."

Former co-captain Jarrad McVeigh (hamstring) trained lightly at the SCG on Monday morning and will look to press his case for a recall against the Demons at Wednesday's main session after getting through his NEAFL hit out on Friday night.

McVeigh will likely return for his first game since round eight, along with speedy midfielder Zak Jones, who has served his one-game suspension.