Sydney delivered a brutal reality check for West Coast on Easter Saturday and issued a warning for the rest of the competition, slicing through their young opponents at Optus Stadium to win by 128 points in a four-quarter domination.
Fresh and switched on after a 16-day break, the Swans produced an attacking, hard-running masterclass from start to finish, winning 24.19 (163) to 4.11 (35) and handing the Eagles the fifth heaviest defeat in their history.
Sydney kicked the first 11 goals of the game and extended its lead to 100 points during the third term, hammering home 11 of the last 13 goals of the game to notch a sixth straight win against West Coast and their seventh on the run at Optus Stadium.
They used a slick handball game to whip the ball forward rapidly, with the young Eagles powerless to slow them down as the Swans tuned up for a heavyweight clash against Gold Coast next Saturday in Gather Round.
Brodie Grundy was outstanding for the 3-1 Swans, kickstarting their midfield game with 33 hitouts, a game-high 28 disposals and nine clearances, and setting the tone at the coalface with 18 contested possessions.
He was only rivalled for best afield by superstar midfielder Isaac Heeney, who produced a complete performance in his return from a hamstring injury with 26 disposals, four goals and eight marks.
Highly scrutinised forward Charlie Curnow cashed in after a quiet start to the season with four goals as Sydney prioritised its superstar recruit, with 200-gamer Tom Papley (two goals and 14 score involvements) and Chad Warner (two and 13) electric in the front half.
It was a disappointing night for West Coast after back-to-back wins, with the team enjoying only a brief moment in control of the game through the later stages of the opening term.
No.1 pick Willem Duursma was a shining light after earning the Telstra AFL Rising Star nomination during the week, picking off daring kicks, impressing at centre stoppages, and kicking two goals from his 16 disposals.
Fellow Rising Star nominee Jobe Shanahan was used as a swingman, regularly pushing into defence to take some impressive marks when the Eagles were under siege.
The home team was fighting an uphill battle from the start, however, with the Swans bursting out of centre stoppages to kick two quick goals before West Coast went inside its forward half.
Curnow slotted the second of those from a tight angle, with Sydney quickly out to a 30-point lead as Grundy and his midfielders took control of the contest and sparked a run of six unanswered goals.
The Eagles were forced to move key forward Shanahan into defence as a spare man in response, giving them some control back in the game, but they couldn't take their chances and entered the first break with 0.5 and a 33-point deficit.
The Swans took things up a gear in the second, continuing to whip the ball from end to end and finding loose players inside 50 as Justin McInerney, Harry Cunningham and Curnow piled on more goals.
Warner provided a highlighted with a double fend-off in the midfield before bursting forward to set up Curnow's third goal, while Papley produced a vintage crumb and snap in his 200th game.
It took Jake Waterman to snap a run of 11 straight goals for Sydney, with the key forward converting on the run from a difficult angle 25 minutes into the quarter, with co-captain Liam Baker adding a second from a 50m set shot.
Duursma provided a flash of brilliance for West Coast to celebrate with a contested mark on the wing and piercing kick into the corridor, but a 63-point margin at the main break left the Eagles with a lot of work to do if they were going to make the margin respectable.
If anything, things got worse in the third term as the Swans went on another run of seven unanswered goals, flicking the ball the length of the ground as the Eagles swivelled, further building their percentage in the final term as Heeney rested.
WEST COAST 0.5 2.8 3.11 4.11 (35)
SYDNEY 6.2 13.5 20.10 24.19 (163)
GOALS
West Coast: Duursma 2, Baker, Waterman
Sydney: Curnow 4, Heeney 4, Lloyd 3, Amartey 2, Papley 2, Warner 2, Blakey, Cunningham, Grundy, Jordon, McInerney, Serong, Wicks
BEST
West Coast: Duursma, McCarthy, Shanahan, Graham
Sydney: Heeney, Grundy, Warner, Papley, Serong, Curnow, Jordon, Wicks
INJURIES
West Coast: Nil
Sydney: Nil
Crowd: 50,723 at Optus Stadium
