WHEN the Sydney Swans host the Brisbane Lions at the SCG on Saturday night, it will be more than a contest between two sides eyeing off a top-four finish.

It will be a clash between two teams hell-bent on defying conventional wisdom that says a successful club will inevitably suffer a lean period before again rising into premiership contention.

The AFL's salary cap and the draft system are structured so that clubs at the bottom of the ladder are given every opportunity to rise, and vice-versa.

But the Swans, who contested successive grand finals in 2005 and 2006, and the Lions (four grand finals from 2001 to 2004) have so far proved exceptions to the rule in 2010.

Both clubs eschewed mid-range draft picks at the end of 2009 in favour of loading up on established senior players, and bolstered their list with 11 newcomers.

The Swans brought in five players from other clubs - Daniel Bradshaw, Josh Kennedy, Ben McGlynn, Shane Mumford and Mark Seaby - and the Lions added six, in Amon Buchanan, Xavier Clarke, Brendan Fevola, Matt Maguire, Andrew Raines and Brent Staker.

However, Sydney Swans coaching co-ordinator John Longmire said there was no secret to avoiding the dreaded 'bottoming out'.

The Swans' philosophy was simple: keep an open mind when seeking new talent and create an environment that allows those new players to thrive.

"We've just been flexible about getting talent into the club, whether it's through the draft or the trade," he said.

"If you see players playing at league level at other clubs, you know that they can play at that level. With young kids, you're obviously hoping they can play at that level but you're a bit unsure."

He cited former Swans ruckman Darren Jolly - now with Collingwood - as a key example of recruiting established talent that had room to improve.

Current co-captain Craig Bolton and defender Rhyce Shaw are among the Swans' other recent recruiting success stories.

But Longmire was quick to hose down suggestions that the Swans were a step ahead of other clubs when it came to list management.

"We're not saying that our way is definitely the right way at all - it's just the way that we've done it," he said.

"There are other clubs which do things differently, which is fine. But we just like to keep our options open with regard to getting talent in. It's very hard to identify 18-year-old kids and look at them with a crystal ball and say he's going to be a top-line AFL player."

While recruiting the right players is important, the task of settling players into a new environment - and thus allowing them to produce their best football - is equally crucial.

Longmire said the fact that so many of his club's players knew something of the hardships involved in moving interstate helped the newcomers to acclimatise quickly.

"When you've got a club that's come up here in the early '80s and ... with blokes like (former skipper) Dennis Carroll, it just seems to be part of the footy club - it's what they do.

"That's what we do as a football club. Because we've moved up here, we try to help people - whether it's players or staff - settle in as quick as they can and make them feel important."

Longmire said the explicit support of their coaches and teammates was another key ingredient in extracting the best from new recruits.

"In the end, a lot of the time it's about reassuring players that they are important and there is a specific role for them and giving them that confidence," he said.

"Now that doesn't mean they didn't get that at their old club; it just means that they see a certain role for them in our footy team that they didn't really believe was open for them.

"They're able to fit into that role and that gives them the confidence after a few weeks that they're not going to be in and out of the team."