Sydney are preparing for Marcus Bontempelli's best, giving no thought to the Western Bulldogs superstar being a late withdrawal.
Bontempelli has been under an injury cloud since the Bulldogs' "traumatic" night at Geelong last Friday.
The Bulldogs captain was on light duties during the club's main training session at Whitten Oval on Tuesday.
Bontempelli dealt with knee soreness during the 75-point belting to the Cats, a game where they lost star forward Sam Darcy to a season-ending ACL rupture.
Named in the Bulldogs' team on Wednesday night, Bontempelli could still be a late scratching before the round-seven opener.
Midfield warrior Tom Liberatore will also sit out the clash with the Swans at Marvel Stadium as the Bulldogs attempt to end a two-game slide after winning their opening four matches.
"Our plan is to play their best and whatever happens, happens," Swans captain Callum Mills said of Bontempelli.
"(Bontempelli is a matchwinner) but they've got stars off every line, so we're going to have to be on our A game.
"They're an extremely good side, and they run really deep.
"Their twos (VFL team) have been a good side for years as well."
Joining Darcy and Liberatore on the sidelines are key defender Rory Lobb (hamstring) and James O'Donnell (hamstring).
Ed Richards (ankle) and Aaron Naughton (hand) played through pain last week, while ruckman Tim English (knee) remains a key absentee.
But the news of all those injuries is slightly offset by Sydney travelling to Melbourne without their best player, Isaac Heeney (calf).
The Swans (5-1) are flying on top of the ladder, but their only loss of the season came when they were missing both Heeney and Errol Gulden.
"There's still plenty we want to work on," Mills said.
"We walked away from the Giants game (last Friday night) with a few things that we really want to focus on and then sharpen up on, which is also a really good sign that there's plenty of improvement to come."
During the night, the Bulldogs will celebrate the 10-year anniversary of their drought-breaking premiership - the grand final victory coming against the Swans.
Mills played in that famous decider, while still a teenager, as did Tom Papley, Jake Lloyd, Dane Rampe and Heeney.
But Mills wouldn't be caught up in any revenge talk for the missed premiership opportunity a decade on.
"They'll want to come out and play really well and we've got to be aware of that and then also channel our own energy," Mills said.
