You can argue that sometimes the best offence stems from a good defence, and the Sydney Swans certainly demonstrated that in Thursday night’s 110-point win over Geelong at the SCG.

While the Swans’ 22-goal effort, which included a five-goal haul to Kurt Tippett, four goals to Lance Franklin and three to Adam Goodes, was simply outstanding, the team’s defensive efforts were equally as impressive.

Swans defender Nick Malceski, who collected a game-and-career-high 37 touches off the half-back line, said he felt the team’s defence, which limited the Cats to just five goals, was their best performance yet.

“The back six worked really well tonight together,” Malceski told SwansTV after the match

“We felt that we covered for each other well and we got back and supported each other.

“We were able to run the ball out pretty well tonight, which is something we’ve been working on.

“It was just fantastic to get the win.”

The Swans’ back six were impressive throughout the win, with full-back Ted Richards notching up a game-high six one-per-centers and Rhyce Shaw collecting 34 touches and operating at 87.1 per cent disposal efficiency throughout the match.

The team’s midfield was also terrific, with Ben McGlynn laying 11 tackles and 10 inside 50s, Josh Kennedy collecting 32 possessions, 18 of which were contested, and Craig Bird backing up his recent good from with 31 possessions, six clearances and a goal.

Malceski said he felt the team’s even performance and defensive efforts contributed to the massive win.

“We’ve got so much respect for Geelong and it was good that we brought our pressure tonight, and it paid off on the scoreboard,” he said.

“Obviously you want to play four quarters every week and you don’t want to have lapses and we didn’t have that tonight, so we played good footy.

“We knew we wanted to come out hard and that’s what we did.”

Swans midfielder Dan Hannebery, who finished the match with 30 possessions and two goals, agreed that this was a strong defensive effort and added that he felt the Swans matched the Cats from the opening bounce.

“We set ourselves for Geelong, who have probably been one of the best sides for the last ten years,” he told SwansTV after the win.

Watch Dan Hannebery speak to SwansTV after Thursday night's 110-point win over Geelong

“We knew we needed to be on early and we matched their pressure early, and it was just a good heart-felt win.

“The boys worked really hard today and there weren’t many bad players, so it was a really good team effort.”

The Swans’ win was the club’s sixth consecutive victory and sees the team momentarily move into second place on the AFL ladder.

Hannebery said he was thrilled that the Swans could continue their good form after enjoying the bye last weekend.

“It was just a good reward for effort and the boys worked hard all day,” he said.

“We trained really hard over the break and haven’t eased off and it’s just good to carry that form that we had over the last five weeks into this week, so it’s is a real positive.”

Hannebery said the team was willed on by the 37,355 fans that turned out to the SCG for the Thursday night match, which was the biggest crowd at the venue since the 2005 semi final.

“I think the better we play hopefully the more fans will come out and watch us play,” he said.

“It was a big Thursday night game and we were rapt with the crowd and we think we can go even better as the year goes on.

“We just love all the Swans supporting up here and the more the merrier.”