SYDNEY Swans coach Paul Roos says last Sunday's loss to lowly Richmond is a distant memory for his side ahead of this weekend's must-win clash with finals rival North Melbourne at the SCG.

While Roos said he had chosen to highlight the first three quarters against the Tigers, when the Swans built a 33-point lead at the MCG before losing by four points, the final-quarter slump hasn't been completely wiped from the Swans' collective memory.

Roos said his side's inability to maintain its attack on the contest for the full 120 minutes would serve as a reminder of what was required to defeat North Melbourne.

"We've backed off a little bit in our team meetings … due to the fact that you tend to not dwell on those sorts of games. It's over and done," he said.

"As a coach, you try to focus on the positives rather than the negatives. There was a fair bit of positive stuff in the first three quarters, but we lost the game.

"We want to go into North Melbourne with the guys feeling as good about themselves as possible, and hopefully we can acquit ourselves for four quarters rather than three quarters."

Paul Bevan and Ted Richards will come in to replace Craig Bird (foot) and Henry Playfair (back), while Brett Meredith will play his first game of 2010 after Marty Mattner failed to recover from a corked thigh sustained against Richmond.

Both sides hold a 7-7 record, with the Swans in the top eight by virtue of their superior percentage, but Roos said the importance of Sunday's clash to his side's finals hopes hadn't been a key message.

"If you're trying to motivate players based on this game or that game … every game's important," he said.

"It doesn't matter who you're playing (and) what the opposition is - that's the test of a really good player.

"Everyone talks about a big-game player; we had a lot of big-game players at Fitzroy when I played, but we didn't have any big games to play in. My definition of a big-game player is someone who plays well every single week."

Midfielder Jarrad McVeigh, who was one of the Swans' best against Richmond with three goals, said the playing group was determined to reproduce the daring brand of football that characterised its early-season surge to the top of the ladder after six rounds.

"We just want to get back to playing some exciting footy and having fun while we're out there. That's the main thing," he said.

"A lot of the guys are nervous about making mistakes, but that's not what we're about. We're about having a go at your kicks, have a go at everything. If it comes off, it comes off, and if it doesn't, so be it."

Roos had no concerns that the players had lost some of the enjoyment of playing footy, remaining confident that the club was still doing the right things to allow them to produce their best.

"It's making sure the environment's there that the team you put on the field can play the best they possibly can," he said.

"That's probably the disappointing thing from last week, with all due respect to Richmond, who I think have been in really good form. I don't think we played as well as we could as a football team, forgetting what the opposition was."

McVeigh agreed the clash against North was a "massive game", and joined Roos in predicting an imminent return to form for key forward and dual Brownlow Medallist Adam Goodes.

"There's always pressure on 'Goodesy'. He's won two Brownlows and he's a superstar of the competition," he said.

"By his own standards, he wants to play well and we're confident he'll play well. We expect him to play well. I've got no doubt that with the person he is and the player he is, at some stage he'll be playing very, very good footy."