Recalled Callum Sinclair has enjoyed a career-best night as the Sydney AFL steamroller crushed St Kilda by 42 points at the SCG on Saturday night.
Sinclair, whose best previous goalkicking effort was three majors, bagged five as the Swans logged their 10th win from their past 11 games with a 14.17 (101) to 9.5 (59) victory.
The win in front of 35, 773 fans consolidated Sydney’s top-eight status, while successive losses have left the Saints outside that area.
The Swans kicked six out of seven goals either side of quarter time to break the game open after a tight start.
They were boosted up forward by Sinclair, who kicked three of their seven first half goals and proved a more than able replacement for the injured Sam Reid.
At one point early in the third quarter, Sinclair had scored 26 points, as much as the entire Saints side to that stage.
Saints were second best at the contest for much of the night and struggled to get the ball forward, with Sydney posting a massive a 65-37 advantage in inside 50s and 16-5 lead-in marks inside 50.
Lance Franklin provided strong offensive support to Sinclair, kicking 3.4 and his last major meant he reached the 50-goal mark for the 10th time in the past 11 seasons
Sydney kicked just one goal from their first 14 inside-50 entries, but majors late in the term from George Hewett and Sinclair gave them a 15-point buffer at the first break.
Hustled by Sydney’s pressure, Saints struggled to string together meaningful attacking movements in the second quarter.
They logged just five inside 50s to Sydney’s 20 in that quarter, with the Swans increasing their advantage to 30 points by the long break.
Saints lifted their intensity early in the third, kicking two of the first three goals.
A trademark 50m shot on the run from Franklin and further goals to Dean Towers and Sinclair gave Sydney a 46-point lead at the final change.
That margin never dropped below 35 points in the final quarter, which the Saints won by four points.
Josh Bruce kicked three goals for the Saints, with Seb Ross piling up a match-high 37 touches.
St Kilda veteran Leigh Montagna limped off the ground in the third quarter.
