Sydney Swans co-captain Josh Kennedy has praised the tenacity of his side after grinding to victory without ruckman Callum Sinclair for the majority of Saturday's clash with the Gold Coast Suns.

The towering Swan dislocated his shoulder in the opening minute of the game, and although he was reinjected into the action after a quick trip to the injury ward, he played no part in the match after quarter-time.

So after some rapid-fire decisions in the coaches’ box, Sam Reid and Aliir Aliir worked in tandem in the ruck in a battle with giant Sun Jarrod Witts, and Tom McCartin shifted from the forward line to defence.

Midfield bull Kennedy had a front-row seat for the unexpected ruck duel, and he spoke glowingly of his undermanned side in the aftermath of the 42-point win.

“How we stood up with Callum out for most of the match was a really pleasing aspect of the game,” Kennedy told SwansTV.

“We’ve had to really fight over the course of the last few weeks after having players going down.

“With Callum being our only genuine ruckman tonight, it was certainly a challenge, but Aliir and Sam Reid both really stood up. Credit to them that they were able to play a critical role in that position.”

Gold Coast topped the hit-outs 66-26, with Witts a dominant force on his way to 55, so the Swans’ on-ballers were made to work overtime to negate the Suns’ influence at the coalface.

Luke Parker gathered 31 disposals, Jordan Dawson finished with 28 touches and Kennedy tallied 27, and the trio led Sydney to a 147-138 win in contested possessions.

While Kennedy admitted the Swans struggled to respond to the loss of Sinclair at first, the 238-gamer was rapt they were able to wrestle back control over the duration of the second half.

“It took us a little bit of time to adjust to losing Sinclair. We were definitely beaten convincingly in the clearances in the second quarter,” Kennedy said.

“But we were definitely able to turn that around in the second half.”