THEY'RE sitting pretty in second spot with a 9-2 record, but perennial AFL powerhouses the Sydney Swans insist they still have a lot of things they can improve on.
The Swans head in to the second Sydney derby of the season next Sunday well on course to make the finals for a seventh-straight season and for a 13th time in the past 14 years.
"Nine-two is a great situation to be in, you'd take that at the start of the year," Swans defender Dane Rampe told AAP.
"But I guess the thing is there's still a lot of things we need to improve.
"Through the reviews we've outlined areas we need to improve in and we feel like they are achievable goals.
"We're really looking forward to the second half (of the season)."
Asked to specify where the Swans could improve most, the buccaneering back gave about as much away his club's miserly defence.
"Just in general areas," Rampe said.
"We're always constantly reviewing each game. We strive for excellence. If you don't learn anything from each game you're not really going to improve."
Rampe said the Swans pulled up OK but a little bit sorer than usual after slogging their way to a 38-point away win over Gold Coast at a sodden Metricon Stadium.
"It hasn't really affected us, we're well recovered and ready to go; an extra day's recovery always helps regardless of the conditions," he said.
Rampe has been one of the Swans' stars down back this season, relishing the opportunity to play on taller forwards in the absence of injured key position player Ted Richards.
"The ball is coming to them a lot more often and I look at it as if I'm going to be involved in the play a little bit more. I look at that as a positive," Rampe said.
Next Sunday, Rampe and his defensive colleagues have the task of shutting down the multi-faceted Giants forward line containing plenty of tall and small threats.
"They have got a number of smalls that they rotate through and then obviously they've got a couple of taller targets in (Jon) Patton and (Jeremy) Cameron, that I might find myself on at times as well," Rampe said.
