In this exclusive column, defence coach Peter Berbakov reviews the Swans’ performance against the Lions, and tells how the team will try to counter Geelong’s premiership-winning forward line this Sunday.

I think Saturday night’s game against the Brisbane Lions was one of the best performances I’ve seen in my time at the Club. All the coaches were very proud of the players’ desire to win, especially with four or five injured players at the end of the game. It was an amazing effort to get over the line with limited interchange options throughout the game.

For Braddy (Daniel Bradshaw), it was a Cinderella story, too. His fantastic performance was highlighted by his torpedo at the end of the third quarter - which  was really lifting. We were struggling and needed a goal, and to have him pull something out of the bag like that was a real boost.

We also saw the amazing toughness of Jude Bolton. It was a super effort from him. Despite being knocked out a couple of times, he contributed really well and kicked a couple of goals playing forward. It was an amazing effort, one that I think exemplified the game in general from all the players. It was an exhausting game, a physical game.

This week sees us travelling to Skilled Stadium to meet the 2009 premiers, Geelong. Playing against the form team of the past three to four years is a good challenge for us. With the extra depth in our team, we’d like to think we can match them physically and player-wise this year.

Skilled Stadium… no team has a good record there (the last time the Swans defeated the Cats at Skilled Stadium was in 1999). It’s skinny and long, and usually you get freezing conditions! Similar to when teams come to play the Swans at the SCG, it is a totally biased crowd who roar every time Gary Ablett gets the ball.

Unfortunately we’ll be without Mark Seaby for a few months after he broke his ankle, and Dan Hannebery for at least one week with a shoulder injury, which is a loss for the team. But we’ve done well so far this season getting wins for our new recruits playing against their old teams, so we’d like to do the same this week for Shane Mumford.

Down back we’ve lost co-captain Craig Bolton to injury, and won’t have him back for a couple of months. Craig’s a terrific player and is always going to be missed, but last week Teddy Richards was able to come in and play really well.

I thought Heath Grundy and Lewie (Roberts-Thomson) were very good on the weekend. Despite each having four goals kicked against them, we thought they finished on the positive side of the ledger considering their opponents were Jonathan Brown and Brendan Fevola.

Geelong usually play three key forwards - Cameron Mooney, James Podsiadly and Tom Hawkins - to complement the skill of Steve Johnson and Paul Chapman. So along with countering their height, we will need to very wary of their ground level players.

The team can take a lot of confidence from their form so far this season, especially their determination against Brisbane on the weekend. The Lions are a strong team, so I think it’s confirmation that what we’re doing works. Obviously we adjust things depending on the opposition, but the confidence comes from knowing that if we play our style of football and have everyone contributing, then we’re a chance of beating anybody.