The emergence of Rhyce Shaw as a forward added lustre to Sydney's win over Carlton on Sunday, a result Swans coach Paul Roos hailed as his side's best of the AFL season.

The Swans' 16.11 (107) to 10.8 (68) win came after Adam Goodes inspired a 10-goal first half and was Sydney's first over a side currently in the top half of the ladder in seven attempts.

Shaw's three goals and Kieran Jack's shut-down job on Carlton star Chris Judd were also influential, and although the Blues battled out the game, Sydney were always able to repel any sniff of a comeback.

Shaw sealed the game when he out-marked Aaron Joseph in the last quarter and goaled, which capped a good game for the former Magpie, who has predominantly been used as a running half-back with his second club.

Roos said Shaw's crucial cameo in last weekend's win over North Melbourne had inspired the decision to start him in attack.

"The catalyst was last week, he kicked two late goals and set up the win for us," Roos said.

"Watching him play last week and watching him train there during the week as a forward, he's got some natural forward instincts and we saw that again, (with) a couple of terrific marks.

"He's very quick, they really struggled with him early and they put a quicker, smaller player on him and that was a difficult match-up as well because he marked really, really well.

"Last week that last quarter we thought we'd do something different.

"With Braddy (Daniel Bradshaw) out and Goodesy going into the midfield we've got to do a few different things as well."

Roos was delighted with his side's opening given the Blues were expected to rally hard following the previous weekend's loss to the Western Bulldogs.

"I think it was our best win for the year to win by such a wide margin," he said.

"To put them away early was really, really good.

"They beat us after half-time but sometimes when you're up by that much at half-time (47 points) it's easy to drop off a bit and get away with a two-goal win.

"It was really pleasing we finished off the game well."

Carlton went into attack more than Sydney but Blues coach Brett Ratten admitted the difference in delivery was a key.

"When you kick it around the arc all the time or (make) shallow entries it makes it hard to hit the scoreboard," Ratten said.

"The Swans got the bang for buck down the other end, they kicked it in and got their rewards."

Sydney expect to be without defender Lewis Roberts-Thomson for next Sunday's game against Melbourne after he injured a hamstring last Friday.

Run-with player Nick Smith will also miss with a hamstring injury, while Roos said Bradshaw, ruckman Mark Seaby and backman Craig Bolton were all some way off returning.

Carlton youngster Kane Lucas suffered another hamstring injury, while the Blues had half-back Andrew Walker reported for making high contact on Ben McGlynn when the Swan had his head over the ball.

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