The Sydney Swans are expecting a tough contest when they run onto Telstra Dome tomorrow night.

The Kangaroos are going for a hat-trick of consecutives wins and are confident of pulling off an upset.

Their coach Dean Laidley believes the match is a wonderful opportunity for them and a great test to see where they are mentally and physically.

Defender Craig Bolton knows it will also be a test for the Swans.

“If you read about what they are saying, being hard at the footy seems to be a big focus and that's something that we pride ourselves on, so I'm sure it will be a really good contest in that area,” Bolton said on Friday.

“We go in there expecting it to be a really tough one to win.”

The Kangaroos have endured plenty of disruptive press in the early rounds of the season – a potential move to the Gold Coast and the coach’s future – but they have put it all behind them to find some form.

Bolton feels it has brought them closer together.

“I think they have been working pretty hard and there seems to be a fair bit of passion within their group,” he said.

“There's been a lot of off-field stuff going on with the Gold Coast stuff, but they are obviously really focused, and their playing group seems to have bonded really well.”

The Swans go into the game with a slightly different look about them with Tadhg Kennelly missing but Bolton hopes they don’t miss him too much.

“It will be a bit of a different look for the defence. We've been pretty fairly settled for the last few years and without Tadhg there it will be a bit different,” he said.

“It's been said a fair bit that Nick Malceski is playing well and playing in that role a bit more and there are some other guys playing some really good footy down back as well. Hopefully we won't miss him too much but we'd love to have him back out there as soon as we can.

“When Roosy (Paul Roos) talks about the defensive group it's as much about our defensive pressure across the whole board as it is in the back six.

“I know we've been playing some good footy back there, but you can't do that unless the midfielders and the forwards are doing their job and putting pressure on. Hopefully that will be a concerted effort from the whole group that will continue.”