Geelong coach Chris Scott was thrilled with his side's comprehensive win over the Swans, saying his side had been building through the early rounds.   

He was particularly pleased with the work of the midfield.

"I think the first three weeks (all losses), we identified some issues that were almost beyond our control a little bit, and we took some – I wouldn't even call them risks, but we knew that Hawkins, for example, was going to take time to build into the year (with a foot issue)," Scott said.

"We lost a lot of defenders all at once, which I think as we saw with Sydney tonight, it just cripples you, when you lose a lot of players in one particular area of the ground.

"But the part that was in our control that we were particularly disappointed with in the first three weeks was our work around the ball, and I think those guys have really lifted in the past three weeks.

"Irrespective of the challenges of the Swans, over a fair period of time, they've been pretty good around the midfield, so I wouldn't underrate that performance tonight."

Scott clarified the late change which saw Sam Simpson make a welcomed return to the top level after concussion issues, explaining Jon Ceglar's wife has recently given birth, which saw the ruckman pulled from the selected 22.

Midfield stalwart Cam Guthrie was subbed off halfway through the fourth quarter for load management, rather than any injuries.