SYDNEY Swans ruckman Darren Jolly says his young teammates could be the Swans’ secret weapon as they take on Collingwood this weekend.

According to Jolly, the inclusion of several young, up and coming players could lift the Swans at the MCG on Sunday afternoon.

"They come with no expectations of what to look for and our young players have probably flown under the radar of other teams," he said before training at the SCG on Wednesday.

"You look at Dan Hannebery and Jesse White and Nick Smith, who have been playing good footy and they'll need to step up again this weekend."

With narrow losses to competition pacesetters St Kilda and Geelong in the past month, Jolly said his side knew what was required to match it with the league’s best teams.

Collingwood sits firmly in that category, having won 10 of its past 11 games to rise to third on the ladder after 20 rounds.

“The games against St Kilda and Geelong were good, hard games and we got our contested footy back up again,” he said.

“I think that’s where it needs to be won – with contested footy, tackling and pressure and we need to be on top of that this weekend."

As September approaches, the Swans ruckman admitted that it felt different knowing that his side was likely to miss the finals for the first time in seven years.

“It feels a little bit weird. Spring is coming through the air and you know it’s finals time and [while] we’re mathematically a chance to be there, you’ve got to be realistic,” he said.

“The first half of the year was a little disappointing… but you look at the last month of footy and we’ve been unlucky against St Kilda and Geelong.”