Sydney coach John Longmire can see a selection headache on the horizon after his young midfielders stole the show in their opening-round victory over Melbourne.
The Swans may have been running without influential captain Callum Mills and veterans Luke Parker and Taylor Adams at the SCG but it mattered little on Thursday night.
Guided by stalwart Isaac Heeney, Chad Warner, Errol Gulden and James Rowbottom tore through the park to help fire their side to a 12.14 (86) to 9.10 (64) win at home.
"Those young boys were good," Longmire said after the match.
"It's a big ask against that experienced midfield group that have been there and done that and continually performed the way they do.
"The numbers we were putting through there were important because the longer the game went, the better the run was."
With the Demons surging back into the contest after a fiery third quarter, Warner put the game to bed by launching the Sherrin from outside 50 to kick off the final term and start a chain of four unanswered goals.
Warner impressed the most with 26 touches and four marks, while Rowbottom took 21 touches and six clearances and Gulden got the ball on 20 occasions.
Outworking a vaunted Melbourne midfield led by Christian Petracca, Jack Viney and Clayton Oliver, the Swans won the clearance count 45-34 and dominated contested possession after halftime (87-64).
"They're (Melbourne) going to be this year, one of the best teams in the midfield groups. Max Gawn and those mids are huge," Longmire said.
"We had six 23-and-under mids tonight so when you think of that, it's a great experience for those boys.
"It would have been a great experience - win, lose or draw. Fortunately, we go on the right side of the ledger."
Adams was the latest blow to the Swans' midfield after suffering a medial ligament strain in his left knee in their pre-season loss to Brisbane.
The former Collingwood star was sidelined for at least three weeks while Parker is expected to miss about a month of football after undergoing surgery on his broken arm, sustained also during a pre-season practice match.
The midfield carnage comes after Mills was ruled out for the first 10 weeks of the season with a shoulder injury.
Aware of an imminent selection headache once the calvary returns, Longmire says he'll cross that bridge when he gets there.
"I'll kick that can down the road," Longmire said.
"I won't worry about that until I have to."
