The Swans’ 55-point win against Richmond at the MCG on Sunday leaves them in 10th place, just one game out of the top eight with three rounds to play.
Their next challenge comes on Saturday night at ANZ Stadium against a Geelong side that is showing its first signs of vulnerability in almost three years, losing twice in the past five weeks and falling over the line in two of those matches.
“It’s still a chance, technically, I guess but it’s not something that we’ve been focusing on of late,” Bolton said before the Swans’ recovery session at Lakeside Oval on Monday.
“We’ve definitely been playing some good footy in the last couple of weeks and if we can continue that, who knows?
“We’re playing some good sides but we’re starting to string some form together. We’ve got some young guys who are really developing now and playing some good football.
“Rather than looking at it as an opportunity to play finals, it’s more of an opportunity to play some good football, to continue the form we’ve had.”
Bolton said Geelong was “beatable” but the Swans would need to replicate the intensity shown in their narrow round-18 loss to an unbeaten St Kilda, when they led late in the game only to go down by a point at the SCG.
“They’ve missed a couple of players in the last few weeks and they’ve probably been a little bit off, but in saying that, they’re still playing some really good footy,” he said.
“They’re a terrific team – they deserve all the accolades they get and I think their record speaks for itself. It’s going to be a really tough game for us.
“But I think up here, [with our] home ground [advantage]… we showed against St Kilda, if we come with that same application and do what we did against them, we’re every chance.”
However, the Swans are set to tackle the Cats without midfielder Jarrad McVeigh, who suffered a hamstring injury against the Tigers.
A dejected McVeigh limped from the Swans offices on Monday morning and Bolton said he was unsure whether his teammate would play again this season.
“I think he’s pretty sore. I don’t know the extent of the injury but obviously he looked pretty sore after the game so I’m not too sure what it means,” Bolton said.
“He’ll want to get back. With a few guys finishing off their careers, everyone wants to play at the end and we want to finish off this season really strongly. If there’s a chance of finals, we’ll want him around but I’m not too sure how bad the injury is.”
