A knee injury to Barry Hall has marred a fighting Sydney Swans win over Richmond at the MCG.

The Swans led all day until four straight Richmond goals put the Tigers in front early in the final term.

But the Swans were able to rally, kicking the last three goals to run out winners 13.10 (88) to 11.6 (72).

Hall injured his left knee in a collision with Tigers full-back Darren Gaspar midway through the first quarter.

He played most of the second half, but never looked mobile and seemed to jar the same knee in a marking contest in the last quarter.

Peter Everitt was superb in his second game for the Swans. The veteran ruckman made an immediate impact after coming off the interchange bench midway through the opening term.

Spida roved a ruck contest and snapped a goal from 45 metres to give the Swans some early breathing space. He won 27 hit-outs and added several hard-ball gets at crucial stages in the second half.

The Swans made an excellent start, holding a comfortable four-goal lead early in the second quarter.

They might have skipped clear but for some wastefulness in the second quarter when they added 2.6.

Chris Hyde's second goal put the Tigers in front at the three-minute mark of the final term, but the Swans kept their composure and regained the lead through youngster Tim Schmidt, who was awarded a free kick against Richmond skipper Kane Johnson for interfering.

Most of the Swans' other better players were defenders rebounding from half-back in Tadgh Kennelly, Ben Mathews, Nick Malceski and Leo Barry, who also overcame a couple of nasty blows to the head.

SYDNEY 4.0 6.6 10.7 13.10 (88)

RICHMOND 1.1 5.2 10.3 11.6 (72)

Goals:

Sydney: M O'Loughlin 2 P Everitt 2 N Malceski 2 B Hall R O'Keefe A Buchanan C Bolton T Kennelly T Schmidt D Jolly. Richmond: M Richardson 2 J Schulz 2 C Hyde 2 R Tambling 2 J Bowden G Tivendale N Foley.

Best:

Sydney: P Everitt N Malceski B Mathews A Buchanan A Goodes T Kennelly L Barry. Richmond: B Deledio J Bowden C Hyde G Polak G Tivendale K Moore. R Tambling.

Injuries:

Sydney: B Hall (knee)Richmond: K Pettifer (corked knee).

Reports: Nil

Umpires: S Meredith T Pennell S Wenn.

Crowd: 37,985 at MCG