Barry Hall was bad news for Sydney once again on Saturday, though not for the reasons that saw the key forward make his exit from the harbour city last year.

By kicking five goals, Hall played a key role in the Western Bulldogs' 38-point AFL demolition of the Swans at Manuka Oval, labelled by coach Rodney Eade as one of their best performances of the season so far.

The Bulldogs kicked 10 goals to two across the second and third quarters to set up a comprehensive 14.17 (101) 9.9 (63) victory.

It could have been a much bigger margin had the Bulldogs not stalled in the final term, failing to notch a goal while the Swans added three.

Hall's haul of 5.4 was augmented by at least two assists and a calm response to all efforts by the Swans to rile him - in marked contrast to the recurring blow-ups that ultimately saw him leave Sydney after a premiership-winning stint with the club.

The Swans could have easily done with Hall in their forward line, given they lost key forward Daniel Bradshaw just before the match with a sore knee.

Eade was jubilant post-match, saying there was more to be read out of the game than the last quarter scoreline.

"People judge games on the win loss, (like) 'oh if you lose you must have done something wrong', but if you win by a point,'oh terrific, you must be a genius," he said.

"We got outscored in the last quarter, but we had seven scoring shots, we had more inside 50s, we just didn't kick straight."

He said it was "probably" their best performance overall this season, although he rated the Dogs' round three clash against Hawthorn as physically the toughest.

The game has set the Bulldogs up as a key competitor this season and has seen them leapfrog the Swans on the ladder, although they now both sit on five games apiece.

Sydney coach Paul Roos said injuries have played a key part in the Swans' slide in form, having stunted a five-game winning streak with comprehensive defeats at the hands of Geelong, and now the Bulldogs.

He conceded his squad weren't among the top teams in the competition at present.

"We played two really good sides in the last two weeks, so it gives us a chance to see where we're at ... and we're a fair way off the pace at the moment," he said.

"When you lose some really experienced players ... we're certainly not a good enough team to have four or five out and be competitive."

Roos said Bradshaw was likely to return next week against Fremantle at the SCG, while the Bulldogs are also set to get a boost with Ryan Griffin and Brad Johnson both good chances of returning.

They face North Melbourne next Saturday.

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