SYDNEY Swans defender Tadhg Kennelly is expecting a titanic battle when the Fremantle Dockers take to the SCG this Sunday.

The match is looming as season-defining for both teams, with the Swans sitting in sixth place, just two points ahead of Fremantle, nearing the business end of the year.

The Swans steadied the ship with last week's 70-point win over Gold Coast, ending a three-game losing streak, while Fremantle won three of its past four games prior to last round's bye.

Freo also won its last match at the SCG in round nine last season, its first victory at the ground since 1996.

"It is huge, you just have to look at the ladder positions to see where the two teams are," Kennelly said before training on Friday.

"Last week was good for us to get back to winning ways, but we've still got a lot of improving to do.

"I know Freo had a good win over here last year, so they'll be thinking they can beat the Swans in Sydney.

"They've had a week off, they'll be freshened up and they're talking up their tackling and contested football, so we're expecting a real tough game.

"They'll be firing and ready to take us on and they'll be coming for our spot on the ladder."

Kennelly admits he hasn't been thrilled with his own form this season.

Coming off a limited pre-season that kept him out of the opening four weeks of the year, Kennelly feels he has lacked consistency and, at times, has tried to have too much influence on games.

"My form's been a little bit up and down and I've been trying to do too much, which is affecting my game," he said.

"I'm trying to drive too much run all the time and tiring myself out an awful lot earlier in the game.

"There's a lot of players that can help and have got plenty of run, Nick Malceski's playing his 100th game, Marty Mattner, Rhyce Shaw, it's not as if we don't have enough blokes that can run with the ball.

"I've just got to take it easy and relax a bit more."

Kennelly paid tribute to Malceski, who has overcome three serious knee injuries - including two LARS operations - to finally reach his 100th game this weekend.

"It's been a long road for Nick and I was only just talking to him about how hard it's been," he said.

"If he'd done the traditional knee reconstructions he wouldn't be a footballer really, he'd be doing something else.

"Probably gardening, he likes gardening, so he'd probably be doing something like that.

"To go through what he's done is a huge achievement and 100 games isn't usually appreciated too often, but for Nick it is."

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