Sydney master forward Lance Franklin and his eager apprentice Isaac Heeney have combined for 11 goals as the Swans shored up an AFL top-three spot with a 81-point win over Essendon at the SCG.

Franklin joined Bill Mohr in equal 16th spot on the VFL-AFL goalkicking list on 735 as he booted six majors in Sydney’s 20.15 (135) to 7.12 (54) victory on Saturday.

Heeney, who turned 20 on Thursday, left this teens behind in style, bagging the first five-goal haul of his career.

He also logged 22 touches, nine marks, 11 contested possessions and three score assists.

Franklin has kicked 29 in seven games this season and has only once logged fewer than four in a match.

His haul on Saturday included one from 60 metres and another when he brushed off two defenders and somehow got his foot to the ball when falling under pressure from Michael Hartley.

Essendon briefly threatened to spring a major upset when they kicked four goals either side of quarter-time to overturn an 18-point deficit and lead by six points.

Sydney slammed on 12 of the next 13 next goals and 13 to two in the second half to give themselves an unassailable lead and a handy percentage booster.

While Heeney and Franklin provided plenty of firepower, the usual suspects supplied the on-ball grunt that set up many of their opportunities.

Josh Kennedy tallied 40 touches and 11 clearances, Tom Mitchell 37 possessions, and Dan Hannebery 31.

David Zaharakis led Essendon with 33 touches and was their only multiple goal-kicker, booting two.