The Sydney Swans set a new AFL record for tackles in their 55-point win over Melbourne at the SCG on Sunday, and coach John Longmire says it was his side’s first-half ferociousness that set up the result.

Heavy showers made life tough for the players during the first quarter and the rain persisted throughout the match, and Longmire believes that the conditions may have inflated the tackle count.

Full match coverage and stats

The Swans were relentless in the first half, laying 87 tackles on the Demons, who were unable to cope with the pressure and managed just 1.2 at the main break.

Led by star midfielder Luke Parker (17) and young forward Isaac Heeney (14), the Swans had 12 players with seven or more tackles, compared to the visitors, who had just two.

Longmire joked after the game that he was still not completely satisfied.

“Oh we can always get a bit more,” he laughed.

“Obviously those conditions helped contribute to the numbers, I mean we didn’t we didn’t go out to get 155 tackles.

“It wasn’t part of our pre-match planning, but what we did want to do was play hard, pressure football and in those conditions it certainly helped to be able to put enormous pressure on the opposition.

“If you invest that sort of pressure on the opposition over the course of the game, particularly early, then it can open up later on, which it did, and we were rewarded for that early effort.

“On the back of last week we bounced back really strongly which we were really happy about."

Five talking points: Sydney Swans v Melbourne

Heath Grundy celebrated his 200th senior match by blanketing young Demons gun Jesse Hogan, and Longmire paid tribute to the 30-year-old’s performance.

“You’ve always got a grin on your face when you wake up and see the heavens opening, as a defender, and certainly Heath (Grundy) would have appreciated that,” he said.

“He’s had a very good year, his last year-and-a-half has been as good a footy as he’s played in his career.

“He’s such a respected player and goes about his business every week with no fuss and it was a typical Heath Grundy game today.”

The Swans' defence handled the wet footy much better than their opponents, with regular members Ted Richards, Jeremy Laidler and Harrison Marsh all missing from the team.

In their absence, co-captain Jarrad McVeigh was outstanding along with Dane Rampe, while youngsters Aliir Aliir – who came in for the injured Laidler on Friday - and Zak Jones also drew special praise from the coach.

WATCH: McVeigh mops up in the wet

“It was good to get a young defender in, and I thought Aliir (Aliir) and (Zak) Jones were quite good in our back six,” Longmire said.

“(Jarrad) McVeigh was really good today across half-back which certainly helps.

“He was strong with his contested ball and his pressure as well, so to be able to keep a team to four goals was a good sign.”