Sydney coach Paul Roos has given youngster Lewis Jetta a chance to break his goalkicking duck when the Swans take on Melbourne at the MCG on Sunday.

Rookie Jetta's inclusion at the expense of injured defender and midfielder Nick Smith is the only change to the side that beat Carlton last week.

The highly-talented 21-year-old has had plenty of opportunities to notch his first goal in his debut season, but has returned 0.15 in his 12 senior games to date.

Roos is optimistic the unflattering statistic would soon be rendered irrelevant.

"He kicked a couple I think in the seconds (the week before last against Tuggeranong), look I'm confident he will be okay," Roos said.

"Maybe he'll get a handball over the top three metres out and kick one over the grandstand, that would be nice.

West Australian Jetta has impressed with his pace and distribution, even though his goalkicking has been wayward.

While Roos successfully experimented with his forward line in the absence of injured spearhead Daniel Bradshaw, even using Rhyce Shaw at full-forward, the Sydney coach doubted Jetta would get a run there.

"He (Jetta) will have to fight Shawy to get to full-forward," Roos joked.

Meanwhile Roos has compared Brett Kirk's strong finish to his career to that of recent Swans great Michael O'Loughlin.

Roos suggested 32-year-old Kirk's recent retirement announcement had been responsible for the club icon's good form.

"I think his last three or four weeks have been really, really good," Roos said of Kirk.

"The same thing happened with Micky O'Loughlin last year.

"The back end of the season, we were starting to think `gee, should he play again (next season)'.

"But a lot of times it's just about that relief that they know the end is in sight and they can see the finish line and they are such professional players, (firstly) Mick and now we are seeing it with Kirky.

"Last week against (Carlton's Kade) Simpson, just a terrific job. A really important player, Simpson.

"The week before against (the Kangaroos' Andrew) Swallow, last week I think he was best on ground. The week before he really struggled against Kirky, so there's no doubt he's really finishing the year strongly."

Although Melbourne's young brigade have attracted plenty of praise, Roos believed the Demons' senior players merited more recognition.

"They've got some really good young talent, but probably the guys that haven't been getting as much credit are their senior players," Roos said.

"I think Brad Green has had an exceptional year and (ruckman Mark) Jamar has been terrific and (Cameron) Bruce has been terrific across halfback.

"A lot of their senior players, (Nathan) Jones, (Brent) Moloney are playing really good footy.

"The young guys are a little bit more up and down, but I think their senior players have been really solid this year and we've got to respect them and we've got to play well."

Sydney enter the round in sixth position, but face a difficult run home following Sunday's MCG clash.

They take on fellow finals aspirants Geelong, Hawthorn, Fremantle and Western Bulldogs before finishing off against the Lions in Brisbane.

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