SYDNEY Swans defender Craig Bolton will enhance his club's record with recycled players this Saturday when he plays his 150th match for the club.

The All-Australian defender has developed into one of the league's finest backmen since crossing from the Brisbane Lions in 2003 and credits playing under coach Paul Roos with kick-starting his career.

"When I came to Sydney I wasn't playing regular footy every week and just to get that opportunity to play week in, week out really gave me some confidence to develop my game and how I play," Bolton said from Perth on Friday.

"So full credit to Roosy and the coaches for that."

Barry Hall (St Kilda), Darren Jolly (Melbourne), Martin Mattner (Adelaide) and Ted Richards (Essendon) have all grown as players since moving to the harbour town, while Rhyce Shaw (Collingwood) is well on his way after joining the Swans for 2009.

"We've made it a bit of a focus to get those recycled players," Bolton said.

"Roosy's gone on the record saying the draft isn't always that reliable, you don't always get out of it what you want to get.

"We've had some good success with [recycled players], so it's something we'll do in the future, I'd say."

Bolton managed just 29 games with the Brisbane Lions during their golden era and was named emergency for two of their three premierships.

Since moving to the Swans, he has been a premiership player (2005), an All-Australian (2006) and has co-captained the side since last season.

However, the Swans outfit Bolton now leads is getting younger, with a host of emerging players quietly cementing their spots in the side.

"You can see a lot of the young players in our system have really developed in the last few years under Roosy," Bolton said. 

"We've got four or five guys who have only played a handful of games, but they've really stepped up and given us some spark in the first few weeks."

Craig Bird (25 games), Kieran Jack (29) and Heath Grundy (28) are all settled at the Swans, while Ed Barlow (14), Jesse White (six) and Brett Meredith (three) will also play this week.

West Australian Kristin Thornton was named on the bench and will play his second game off the rookie list.

"It's a big challenge for them and the rest of the team coming over here, but we're looking forward to it," Bolton said.

"These guys have played a lot of footy now in the early part of the season, so the more experience we can get them, the better it's going to be for us later in the year."