Sydney Swan Shane Mumford is confident his best football is just weeks away.

Following an injury interrupted first half of the season which saw the ruckman sidelined for six weeks with a back infection, Mumford said match fitness is all that stands in the way of his best form.

“My body is pretty much right now, it’s just the match fitness,” he said.

“That’s something you can’t emulate in training, so it’s going to take a few more games.

“It normally takes five or six games under your belt, and that’s why we’ve got the pre-season comp to ensure you’re right by round one.”

Mumford has been able to ease himself back into senior football over the past two rounds, ably assisted by fellow Swans ruckman Mike Pike who has helped shoulder the load.

Mumford said Pyke’s impressive form has played an important role in his return to the Swans side.

“I’ve been lucky with Mike Pyke playing in the side that I’ve been able to play a fair bit more forward and change into the ruck from there,” he said.

“We’ll wait and see what happens over the next few weeks but hopefully I’ll be able to build myself back up to be able to play full game time again.”

Last weekend’s bye could not have come at a better time for the Swans big man, who used his time off to assist in his continued recovery.

Mumford said he is now feeling fresh and is looking forward to a successful second half of the season for the Swans.

“It definitely helped having the bye when we had it,” he said.

“For me to have so long off and then come back and play a couple of weeks of footy and get a bit of match fitness back again and then have the week off to get the body completely right going into the second half of the year (has been good).

“I’m back now and hopefully I’ll be back to my best over the next few weeks.”

The Swans have a tough task first up after the break, taking on Mumford’s former side Geelong at the SCG on Friday night.

Mumford said despite having a better win/loss record than the Cats at the halfway point of the season, the reigning premiers should not be underestimated.

“It doesn’t matter where they are on the ladder because they are such a great team and have been for so many years,” he said.

“It only takes one little thing and then they’re right back on track and impossible to beat almost, so it’s going to take our best and hopefully we can build on that.”

But Mumford said the scalp of Geelong this week would go a long way in setting up the Swans finals’ hopes.

“Obviously they are a hard team to beat all the time and are last year’s premiers, so what better challenge going into the second half of the year to help secure that top four spot,” he said.

“To be the best you’ve got to beat the best and for us to beat Geelong this weekend would go a long way to show people that we are a serious threat.”

Despite moving to the Harbour City from Geelong over two seasons ago, Mumford said he still wants to show his old club just how far he has come.

“I’m really happy up here and I probably wouldn’t have developed the way I have and never would have gotten the opportunities that Sydney has given me,” he said.

“In saying that, you always want to play well against your old team and show them what they’re missing out on.”