Sydney have turned to off-season recruit Rhyce Shaw for inside tips on beating Collingwood.

Co-captain Brett Kirk expects the Swans can glean useful information from former Magpie Shaw to help them in Saturday's AFL match at ANZ Stadium.

"Rhyce brings a lot of tactical knowledge and experience from playing with Collingwood and he will give us a bit of insight on how they approach the game and how they approach playing the Swans," said Kirk.

It's a key game for Sydney, coming off their bye, with Collingwood sitting seventh on the ladder, four points ahead of the 10th-placed Swans.

And Kirk believed that clash, plus the following one at fifth-placed Adelaide, could well define Sydney's season.

"I think the next two weeks can really kickstart our season or go the other way," he said.

"It's going to really shape how we go for the rest of the year and the next couple of weeks is going to show who really wants it bad enough."

The fiercely-committed midfielder called on the next level of Swans players to lift and ensure they improved on the 5-6 season record.

"The second half of the year, we really want our sort of middle-tier guys to really step up.

"They have probably been fluctuating a little bit so an even contribution from the team will definitely kickstart the second half of the year."

Asked whether coach Paul Roos had spoken to him about his future as part of a mid-season review of the club's list, Kirk said his focus was on this weekend.

"I will sit down at the end of the year and we will talk about where I am in the plans of the footy club."

Kirk said he viewed the competition at the half-way stage as "wide open".

"It's really starting to show probably the next three or four weeks how the eight will shape and these next two games are really important for our season."

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