It’s the halfway point of the AFL season and Sydney legend Jude Bolton feels his old side are better placed than they were in 2014.

The Swans defeated North Melbourne by 16 points on Saturday night to enter the mid-season bye second on the ladder with a 9-2 win-loss record.

John Longmire’s men were in a similar position last year, turning things around after a sluggish start to be sitting pretty at 8-3.

However, Bolton believes the development of the club’s fringe and younger players augurs well.

“They’re probably better positioned than they were last year, to be honest,” Bolton told the Seven Network.

“They’ve got a few young guys that have stepped in – they’re in a pretty good position.”

Longmire agreed the opening half of the season had been not too bad, but noted it counted for little at this point of the year.

“We can always get better,” he said.

“We need to get better at everything. There are plenty of things we can get better at.

“We’ll have a few days off. After that, we’ve got a big game (against Richmond) at the SCG.”

The Swans came through Saturday night’s clash unscathed, with the exception of a knee injury suffered by Heath Grundy in the final term.

Longmire was upbeat the key defender, who returned to the field, would be right to face the Tigers.

“They said all the ligaments were fine and he played out the last eight to 10 minutes,” he said of Grundy.

“He landed a bit stiff legged but the docs tested him on the bench.

“I’d have to say at this stage he should be ok – touch wood.”

Dan Hannebery was crunched by Jack Ziebell in a third-quarter marking contest.

Hannebery took a long time to get to his feet, but also returned to play.

“He’s really tough. That was a big hit he copped,” Longmire said of Hannebery.

“He was a bit sore, but he’s a really tough young bloke and got going.

“I assume, because he played out the game, he’s alright.”