Assistant coach Leigh Tudor has praised the Swans senior players for their efforts in turning around last Sunday’s match against Essendon.

As the Swans trailed by 28-points during the second quarter, Adam Goodes joined Ryan O’Keefe and Jude Bolton in the midfield, sparking a Swans resurgence.

“Adam’s such a good midfield player that at times during the year if we can get him in there for bursts here and there, he’s going to influence the game and he certainly did that on the weekend,” Tudor said.

“Ryan O’Keefe and Jude were fantastic, and the longer the game went the better Kieren (Jack) and Macca (Jarrad McVeigh) got, so we were really happy with the way the older guys performed."

Tudor told SwansTV that the team had responded well after a tough review of the match against Melbourne. 

“Our contested footy really improved against Essendon, especially around the stoppages which was a big focus for us. The boys got nice and dirty in close and it was a good result,” he said. 

Looking ahead to Saturday night’s match against the West Coast Eagles, Tudor is confident the vast expanses of Patersons Stadium hold no fears for the Swans.

“We’ve had a really good preseason and I thought the way we ran the game out on the weekend showed the boys are really fit and we want to be the type of side that can play anywhere, anytime, so ground size shouldn’t worry us,” he said