THE SYDNEY Swans have struggled to find regular goalkickers at times in 2011.

Adam Goodes has been a little inconsistent by his lofty standards and Sam Reid is still developing as a forward, while the likes of Lewis Roberts-Thomson, Jarrad McVeigh and Ben McGlynn have bobbed up to kick goals at various stages of the season.

So it was a pleasant surprise for coach John Longmire to see Craig Bird, who usually plays a tagging role, popping up with a career-high four goals in the Swans' crucial 39-point win over the Western Bulldogs.

Bird's previous best was two goals on two occasions, the last of which came in 2009, while he had managed just four goals from 14 games this season prior to Saturday's game.

Playing as a defensive forward and handed the task of curbing Shaun Higgins, Bird proved a dangerous threat in attack.

"Obviously with [Robert] Murphy going out [with injury], it put a lot of responsibility on their defence," Longmire said after the match.

"And we just thought Birdy's job was effectively a defensive job up forward, but he was able to also kick goals.

"For most of the year he's been playing midfield, run-with type roles, and he played a defensive forward role today and also kicked some goals, which was really telling."

Not only did Bird kick four goals, they came at opportune times.

The first two came in a five-minute period midway though the second term, when the Swans took control of the game.

With the Swans then missing a series of chances in the third quarter, he nailed another goal 20 minutes into the quarter as the home side established a five-goal buffer.

His fourth at the start of the final term sealed the Swans' win, although he's not sure if he has done enough to convince Longmire to give him a permanent role in the forward line.

"It was nice to get forward, I played a bit more forward today than usual," Bird said.

"It was good to get a couple and play my role for the team.

"I don't know how long it will last, they just wanted me to play on Higgins and limit his influence on the game.

"I'm happy to play forward at times, but Reidy did well today and Goodesy as well, so there's definitely a few avenues to goal and hopefully we can kick a bit straighter in the weeks to come."

The views in this article are those of the author and not necessarily of the AFL or the clubs