Sydney showed impressive poise and focus to knock off sentimental favourites Hawthorn by 14 points at the MCG on Friday night.
Jarryd Roughead's recent cancer diagnosis rocked the AFL football community, but the Swans did well to keep their minds on the task at hand.
"We didn't talk about it as a group," coach John Longmire said of Roughead's cancer battle.
"We spoke about it as smaller groups, during lunchtime, and I spoke to a lot of players that know him and, obviously, staff that know him.
"Lance (Franklin) and Stuart Dew went down and saw him on Thursday ... that's important.
"Ben Mcglynn, Josh Kennedy and these guys know him, but, in a general sense, Jarryd is probably one of the most respected players in the AFL, so blokes that don't know him that well really felt for him."
Sydney kept Hawthorn goalless for an entire quarter for the first time this season, but Longmire never felt comfortable, despite his side's 36-point advantage late in the second quarter.
"You never get to a point where you will crack it open against Hawthorn, or very rarely because they're such a good team," he said.
"They keep coming, and we knew they would come and have their turn ... their pressure was enormous in the third quarter, but we sort of kept them to three goals, and then went back again in the last."
Veteran defender Ted Richards was knocked out of the game in the first quarter with a concussion and will be monitored ahead of next Friday's big clash against ladder leaders North Melbourne at the SCG.
