Sydney have continued their customary late charge towards September, grinding out a 17-point AFL victory over St Kilda in front of 63,369 fans at Telstra Stadium.

In a dour struggle, Jarrad McVeigh emerged as an unlikely goal scorer, kicking a career-best three majors as Sydney snuck home 12.10 (82) to 9.11 (65).

After a traditionally slow start to the season, the Swans had won four of their past six games, but the victories were against Melbourne, Richmond, Carlton and Fremantle, who all currently sit outside the eight.

Their two losses in that stretch came against West Coast and Geelong so Sydney needed the scalp of a genuine finals contender for a confidence boost heading into September.

It was far from pretty but the Swans will care little and now find themselves one win outside the top four with an 11-8 record heading into next week's trip to Brisbane to face the Lions.

Barry Hall had a dog of a day, blanketed by St Kilda defender Max Hudghton, but McVeigh picked up the slack for the home side.

With the game in the balance midway through the final term, McVeigh juggled a mark and kicked truly to give the Swans an 11-point buffer, their biggest of the night in what had been an extremely tight contest throughout.

Sydney's veteran heads then ensured the home side grabbed the four points.

Sydney coach Paul Roos couldn't hide his delight at the tough victory, declaring it Sydney's best of 2007.

"I would say it's our best win of the year," he said.

"We've come up against a team in very good form and pretty much all their players back.

"They had a real crack, we had a real crack and we were fortunate to be in front at the end."

But Roos was wary of getting ahead of himself as the Swans target a third-straight grand final appearance.

"We're working our way up," he said.

"The first thing we want to do is tick off the top eight. Then you start looking further ahead."

St Kilda counterpart Ross Lyon was a rather disconsolate man after the game.

The Saints now find themselves outside the eight with nine wins, nine losses and a draw and needing to win all their remaining matches to have a shot at the finals.

"I thought we competed pretty well, but some of our decision-making and discipline at times was poor," he said.

"They're a good team and they capitalised.

"I don't think (our position on the ladder) makes too many St Kilda people happy.

"It doesn't make me happy or the group happy. There's three games to go, if you play good football and win three games it gives you an opportunity.

"Eleven-and-a-half wins won't get you in. It was a critical game tonight."

Lewis Roberts-Thomson (buttock) was a late withdrawal prior to the opening bounce after picking up a strain in training, denying him his first appearance of the season.

Coupled with Leo Barry's failure to recover from a hamstring problem, the Swans were severely hampered in their hopes of quelling St Kilda spearheads Nick Riewoldt and Fraser Gehrig.

The latter wasted little time getting involved, kicking the game's first goal on the run after just 26 seconds and adding a second midway through the opening term.

Sydney took more time getting into gear, with McVeigh kicking their opening two goals as the visitors took an eight-point lead into the first break.

The Swans' ball use improved in the second term, with Adam Schneider, Nic Fosdike and Peter Everitt all kicking goals as the two sides went into half-time locked at 5.5 (35) apiece.

Nick Dal Santo got the scoring underway in the second half with a superb set shot from right on the 50m arc as St Kilda tried to grab the momentum.

It was the Swans who began to run harder, however, with Luke Ablett and Michael O'Loughlin kicking back-to-back goals as the lead continued to change hands.

The teams traded goals again before Nick Davis marked right on the three-quarter-time siren, kicking the goal to give Sydney a four-point lead heading into the last break.

Brought to you by AAP © 2024 AAP