As the Swans players and football staff gathered for mad Monday celebrations, Roos said a comparison with the Swans' 2008 finals campaign showed the club was on the right track.
"We played in the corresponding game two years ago against the Bulldogs. They were on the way up and we were probably on the way down. They beat us by 45, 46 points and they've continued to improve," he said.
"For us to get back to that same stage again and only lose by five points in a game that could go either way was a really good effort by the footy club."
However, heavy losses to Collingwood and Geelong (twice) proved that the Swans still had significant ground to make up on the leading contenders, Roos added.
"We know we're still a fair way off the top teams, if you look at the three best [teams]," he said.
"St Kilda, Geelong and Collingwood seem to have been the form teams over the last half of the season.
"I think we're still a fair way off that mark so we need to be realistic as a footy club … but certainly the improvement has been very significant over the last 12 months."
The Swans completed their post-game review on Monday morning and Roos said incoming senior coach John Longmire would be in charge of the football department from now on.
Roos will remain involved with the club by heading up its youth academy and he said there was scope for involvement in the areas of marketing and international recruiting.
Swans midfielder Ryan O'Keefe said the players would spend the afternoon reflecting on both the season just completed and the careers of Roos and retiring skipper Brett Kirk.
O'Keefe agreed with Roos' positive assessment of 2010 after the club embarked on a major off-season rejuvenation of its playing list.
"Where people rated us before the season [compared] to where we finished, I suppose you say that's a success," he said.
"We probably exceeded a lot of people's expectations. If you look at the year, with the amount of injuries we had and the amount of young players we got to blood, I think it's a really good year and it's going to set us up for the future."
O'Keefe, who will undergo groin surgery on Tuesday in a bid to resume pre-season training as soon as possible, said he expected Longmire's ascent to the top job to be hassle-free.
"We know what he's about and he knows us, so it's not like we have to prove ourselves to someone else coming in, so I think it's going to be pretty smooth," he said.
"Obviously he's going to have his own ideas and the way he wants to do things, but I think it's going to be a pretty good transition."
Kirk's retirement means one of the three places in the Swans' captaincy system is vacant and O'Keefe said he would embrace the chance to become one of the Swans' captains if voted in by his peers.
