Retiring Sydney greats Paul Roos and Brett Kirk have been paid the ultimate compliment for reviving "the Bloods" mentality.

Sydney were at the crossroads when Roos took over the coaching role on a fulltime basis at the end of 2002.

The club had initially seemed set to replace Rodney Eade - who left midway through the season - with Terry Wallace, only to be swayed by a supporter backlash.

Just three years later the Swans famously stormed to premiership glory, with Kirk standing on the dais to accept the trophy before exclaiming "this is for the Bloods".

Captain Kirk and coach Roos are painfully aware that Sunday's elimination final against Carlton could be their last for the red and whites, but their lasting legacy will not be the `05 flag.

According to team-mates, Kirk, Roos and former skipper Stuart Maxfield will be remembered for re-inventing the Swans as a hard-nosed, committed football team in an AFL outpost.

"We take it upon ourselves to really drive that and continue the legacy that they've left," senior player Jude Bolton told AAP.

"The hard one-on-one style of contested, hard-nosed footy, that's the way we want to play.

"That's what stands up in finals footy and that's what will can produce against Carlton."

Kieran Jack, 23, was still in high school when the Bloods movement began, but his hard-running, aggressive style of play is testament to the efforts of those who bled before him.

"For us it's really about the behaviours that Kirky and Stuey Maxfield set up in 2003, they're the key traits that (Kirk) is trying to pass on," Jack explained.

"We've been really lucky that we've got some great leaders at this footy club and they're now trying to send a message to the younger blokes that this is right, this is wrong.

"They're not going to be here forever, Brett is going to be gone at the end of this year, so the next leaders really need to start stepping up and that's something that Kirky's trying to achieve."

After Sydney's round 18 loss to defending premiers Geelong, Kirk pulled his team together and demanded they played Swans footy till the end of the season.

"The leaders spoke to us all after the Geelong game, and said they took ownership of that performance," Jack explained.

"They've all lifted the past four weeks and they've pulled a lot of the young guys with them as well.

"That's been the catalyst of our success and it will be the same on Sunday.

"The young guys will see them playing hard and they'll want to follow them and perform as well."

With a talented core of young players including Jack, Lewis Jetta (21), 22-year-olds Trent Dennis-Lane and Josh Kennedy and 19-year-old Rising Star winner Dan Hannebery, the "Young Bloods" are determined to continue the tradition and create their own history.

"At the end of the day the key for us is about contested footy and hardness and tackling, that's something that has been at the club for a long time," Jack added.

"Something we have spoken about this year was creating something special for ourselves, that's why it's not the Bloods (anymore), it's just the Swans."

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