Sydney's Paul Bevan says the Swans away woes are a psychological issue and believes a win over reigning AFL premiers Hawthorn on Sunday at the MCG will set them up for a strong second half of the season.

Just 0.03 per cent separates seventh-placed Sydney from the Hawks in eighth, with both clubs among a gaggle of seven teams with a win-loss record of 5-5.

The Swans have lost their last eight games outside Sydney and have gone over 10 months since tasting victory outside NSW.

"It's very important, we haven't won one away this year, so we know how crucial this game is down in Melbourne," said Bevan, who will make his 100th AFL appearance.

"It's just more of a psychological thing, if we get one (win) away, we set ourselves up."

The Sydney match committee opted against making wholesale changes following last week's 40-point loss to the Bulldogs.

Midfielder Luke Ablett was replaced by Craig Bird in the only change.

Sydney can already lay claim to one victory over the Hawks this year, beating them by 38 points at ANZ Stadium in round two.

"We just stuck to our game plan which was the key even though we were a couple of goals down at the start," Bevan said.

"Everyone played their role and (fullback) Craig (Bolton) played well on `Buddy' (Franklin) and it just filtered down to everyone doing their role."

Franklin leads the league with 34 goals but coach Paul Roos quashed any suggestion the flamboyant forward was having a below par season after his spectacular 2008 campaign.

"His standards were just so high last year, but he's an effective player this year," Roos said.

"I wouldn't mind having a bad year and kicking thirty-odd goals before the halfway mark. It's a pretty impressive effort.

"I think he's still playing good footy, he's still obviously very dangerous, so we're under no illusions as to how good their forward line is."

Roos revealed Bevan, Jared Crouch and Martin Mattner were all likely to rotate defensively on quicksilver Hawk Cyril Rioli as they did in the round two clash.

While Hawthorn have continued to battle with injuries, Roos emphasised the premiers still possessed plenty of midfield and forward strikepower.

Sunday's game will be Sydney's first at the MCG this season and the code's most famous venue could provide the Swans with the spur to kickstart their season.

"We tend to get up for the bigger games, but probably games we're supposed to win we've struggled in," Bevan said.

"It's an inconsistent start to the season, but we've got a good chance on Sunday to hopefully set us up for the second half of the year."

Brought to you by AAP © 2024 AAP