SYDNEY ruckman Peter Everitt is set to make an awaited return to the senior side for Sunday's clash with the Western Bulldogs at the SCG after overcoming a knee injury that has hampered his start to the season.

The 33-year-old has played the last two weeks with Sydney's reserves side, as has former Cat Henry Playfair who could make his debut for the club after solid performances at the lower level.

"Spida (Everitt) will play this week provided he gets through training," Roos said on Wednesday. "He played again last weekend and we're looking forward to him playing this weekend.

"Henry Playfair played in the reserves last week and he's been back in training for probably five or six weeks so he comes in to strong contention.

"Henry's in genuine contention this week. A big body, pretty fit and he played pretty well on the weekend so he's one we'll watch pretty closely on Thursday [at training]."

Playfair, who played 52 games for Geelong but just one last year, is expected to give the Swans an added edge in their forward structure and could be used as a pinch-hitting ruckman.

Jesse White, who made his debut against North Melbourne last weekend, and forward Nick Davis will make way for the pair, with Roos expecting Davis to get a boost of required confidence in the reserves.

"Nick is struggling to perform so we need to get him to find some form," he said. "You'd like to see him have a good solid month and so when he comes in, he comes with some solid form behind him.

"And Jesse did a good job last week. It's a little disappointing because I don't like to play kids for one week. But I think they understand it and give them a chance to mentally atune to AFL footy."

Roos has been impressed with the improvement of the Bulldogs this season, particularly their hunger to win the contested football and the height added in attack by new players.

"I think they've always been able to score goals over the last three or four years," he said. "And they've added (Will) Minson and (Scott) Welsh up front. There was a lot of pressure on (Brad) Johnson but their forward structure is a fair bit different now.

"They've got a lot of good inside midfielders, so the structure's changed a bit and they are a lot more comfortable around the contested footy."

Roos also confirmed that suspended spearhead Barry Hall will help out the forwards at training this week. The club's leadership group met with Hall yesterday and had a "frank" discussion with him regarding his seven-week penalty for striking.

"They made it pretty clear they want him to stay in the leadership group," Roos said. "So it's a good decision from them. Obviously they told him to do everything possible to come back a better player and work out why he did it."

And defender Nick Malceski's remarkable return from a knee reconstruction remains on track.

"He did some one-on-one training today and we expect him to join in training on Friday," Roos said.

"He's continuing to build for, hopefully, a return to footy around round eight or nine."