Given his record against the Bombers, Lance Franklin must have been gutted to be a late withdrawal on Friday night with what the Swans said was knee soreness. The big man has kicked 55 goals in 11 games against Essendon, including five when the teams last met in round nine. However, the Swans comfortably accounted for Essendon in his absence to return to the winner's list. Franklin's knee was thought to have become sore at training in the lead-up to Friday's clash, and the club was hopeful he would be available for next week's away game against Port Adelaide.

A strong breeze blowing across the ground made life difficult for the two big key forwards, the Swans' Kurt Tippett and Essendon's Jake Carlisle. Tippett, who became the Swans' focal point up forward after Franklin's withdrawal, played only his seventh game of what has been a season interrupted by injuries, and managed two goals and two marks. At the other end, Carlisle, who booted eight in round 18 against the Bulldogs, finished with one goal and two marks.

Apart from a third-quarter surge that brought the margin back to 10 points, the Swans had Essendon's measure for most of the night to stay on top of the ladder and improved their win-loss record to 14-4, keeping them in the box seat to claim a top-two spot and double chance. Geelong and Hawthorn, both yet to play this weekend, are one game back at 13-4, while Fremantle sits at 13-5 after beating Carlton in a thriller on Thursday night. Of the Swans' remaining four opponents, only one – Port Adelaide – sits in the top eight.

Friday night's loss snaps Essendon's four-game winning streak and drops the Bombers to 10-8 with four rounds remaining. With Adelaide, Collingwood and Gold Coast all coming into the round just one game back at 9-8, there is a risk Essendon could find itself out of the top eight by Sunday night. The Bombers face Richmond, West Coast, Gold Coast and Carlton – all bottom-eight clubs heading into round 19 – to end the home-and-away season.

Sydneysiders were spoilt for choice to get their football fix, with three games across two codes scheduled on Friday night. On a cold evening, the Swans drew 36,804 to the SCG, the club's third-largest crowd at the venue this season in a week where they announced they had reached 40,000 members for the first time. Interestingly, the SCG crowd was more than the combined total of the two NRL matches at opposite ends of town. There were 12,873 on hand to watch Manly beat the Brisbane Broncos at Brookvale Oval in Sydney's north, while 11,832 turned up at Homebush's ANZ Stadium for Penrith's win over Canterbury.