The Swans booted 10 goals to three in a dominant first half to set up a 39-point win in round 16, signalling the first stage of a return to form that propelled them to a fifth-place finish.
But Bolton expected Blues midfielders Chris Judd, Marc Murphy, Bryce Gibbs and Kade Simpson to have learned a lesson or two from that encounter.
"You obviously learn from that game but so will they. You can go in with that preparation but other teams change as well," he said on Wednesday.
"We know that we started really well against them and they changed their tactics halfway through the game.
"They've got an extremely talented group in their midfield and that's where it's going to be won and lost this weekend. We were able to contend with them six rounds ago but that's long gone now."
For several years, Bolton and Brett Kirk have shouldered most of the grunt work at the stoppages but the addition of Josh Kennedy, Dan Hannebery and Shane Mumford to the centre-square rotations has given them far more options.
Bolton said the work undertaken by the group in the pre-season had paid off with the Swans enjoying greater flexibility with their midfield match-ups.
"Hopefully we've been able to mentor those sorts of guys and the coaching staff have obviously recruited really well with guys like Ben McGlynn and Joey Kennedy," he said.
"We're really happy with the way our list is coming along and we've got a good mix of old and new.
"We've got a good mix that can go through there now and it just shows by having Kirky and myself out of the midfield sometimes that we have got that depth."
While the round-16 win against the Blues gave a glimpse of what was to come from the Swans, the side endured successive heavy defeats against Melbourne and Geelong before really hitting its straps in the last month of the season.
Bolton said a frank assessment of the team's performance after the 73-point loss to the Demons was the catalyst for a dramatic form revival.
"We can't be demanding the younger players to play the way we want to play if we're not doing it," he said.
"Certainly against Melbourne and in a few other games, we weren't living up to the way we want to play footy and hopefully we've got back to the style and brand that we want, which is the hard, contested footy.
"We've been able to turn things around and have some good wins against quality opposition. That puts us in a good position and a confident mindset going into the finals."
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