Veteran Sydney ruckman Peter Everitt could be considered for his first senior AFL game of the season next weekend after making a better than expected return to action in the Swans reserves.

Everitt, whose start to the season was delayed by a knee arthroscope early in the year, turned out against Ainslie last weekend.

"(He) only played 40 minutes and probably played a little better than what we expected," Sydney coach Paul Roos said.

"I'd say in an ideal world we'd probably like to play him in the seconds this week, but I will sit down with Spida and have a chat, he's an experienced player.

"You don't want to throw anyone in when they're not quite ready, so it will be interesting to see what his take on it is."

Roos expected running defender Tadhg Kennelly to return this week after he was a late withdrawal from the game against Geelong with a tight hamstring.

Youngster Jarred Moore came off late in the loss to the Cats with a slight hamstring twinge, but Roos expected him to be available to face the Kangaroos.

Roos said off-season recruit and former Geelong forward Henry Playfair was poised to play his first game for the club in the reserves this week after recovering from a hamstring injury.

He revealed Nick Malceski could be playing again by round eight or nine after undergoing surgery on his anterior cruciate ligament knee injury, with the running defender likely to resume training next week.

"We've just got to make sure that he's ready to play and really test the knee and if it goes, we'd probably rather it go at training than in a match and then he can have a full reconstruction and be alright for next year."Roos said.

"There's nothing to lose, but at the moment he's looking really good."

Roos said Adam Goodes would need to dig deep to get out of the form lull he suffered against Geelong.

The Swans coach pointed out Goodes had performed well as recently as the weekend before last against West Coast, and needed to reduce the distance between his best and worst performances.

"You've got to be careful it doesn't consume too much of your time, as a coach he's one of 22, he's an important player obviously," Roos said of Goodes.

"But at some point the player himself has got to dig himself out of a bit of a hole and you just hope it doesn't take quite as long as what it did last year."

Roos said while Goodes' up-and-down form was frustrating for both the player and the club, his overall performances meant he remained "very much in the best 22."

"From a form point of view it's just the difference between his best and his worst needs to close a bit," Roos said.

Roos said debutant Nick Smith was likely to get another go this week against the Kangaroos who drew level on points with Sydney after beating Collingwood.

He anticipated a very physical clash against a Kangaroos team similar in style to his own side.

"We expect a really tough game as we normally get from the Kangaroos, they are normally physical and hard games and in some ways they play a pretty similar style to us, contested football, they pride themselves on winning that ball," Roos said.

"That's going to be the key to the game this week, the midfield battles, who can win the hard balls and get to their forwards."

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