SYDNEY Swans coach Paul Roos says his club can learn from the player development path provided by Melbourne.

The 15th-placed Demons host the Swans in Canberra on Sunday and while they won't make the finals this season, some of the younger Melbourne players are benefitting from a policy implemented by coach Dean Bailey.

Liam Jurrah, Cale Morton, Neville Jetta and Jamie Bennell have all shone at various stages this season, while Jack Grimes, injured this week, and Jurrah earned successive NAB AFL Rising Star nominations in rounds 14 and 15.

Roos hopes that with more experience and opportunities, Nick Smith (seven career games), Jesse White (14) and Ed Barlow (20) – among others – will become mainstays of future Swans sides.

"They're (the Demons) gaining benefit now in what they've been able to set up over the last 18 months," Roos said from the SCG on Friday.

"Clearly they went down the path of giving young players game time and that's paying off.

"Melbourne is on the right path and the way Dean (Bailey) has been juggling his experienced players and younger ones has been a really good plan for the future of the Melbourne footy club."

With one of oldest lists in the competition, the Swans have entered a transition period that will unearth plenty of new talent in the coming seasons.

Dan Hannebery, one of the club's three draftees of 2008, made his debut against Carlton last weekend to take the Swans' season tally to four.

Smith turned in a heartening display opposed to Eddie Betts while White kicked four goals after an 11-goal performance for the Swans reserves.

The Demons, 46-point losers to Geelong, lost their first game in three weeks following successive wins over West Coast and Port Adelaide.

"I think you draw faith from what some of the teams have done in Melbourne and you can see the improvement in some of those Melbourne players. It's been really, really good," Roos said.

"They're going to be a really good side at some particular point."

The finals are still a remote chance for the Swans and Roos wants to keep a balance of young and older players for the remainder of the season.

It's the best way younger players can develop, he says, and the main aim of the side is to end a dry run that has produced one win from their last five games.

"We still want to win as many games as we can," Roos said. "That's a priority. The players are aware of that and the players have said that and will demand that of each other.

"All the other stuff revolves around that. Whether it's a young or older player, that's got to be our focus."