The win has seen the Magpies premiership odds slashed from $9.50 into $6.50 but Swan says the external hype has not penetrated the walls of the Westpac Centre.
“We’re not looking to finals now, we’re looking to Melbourne on Saturday. As soon as we get carried away with ourselves and start thinking we’ll finish top four and win a premiership, well that’s when we’ll start to fall over," Swan said.
“We can only beat who is in front of us and this week that is Melbourne.
“At the start of pre-season we sat down and realised where we wanted to go this year. We got slapped by the two grand final sides last year in the finals and thought we were way off them.
“That’s why we recruited three mature age players who could come in and fill a gap for us. With the window, I think we’ve got as good a chance as anyone this year to win a premiership and hopefully we keep playing at the same level we did on the weekend.”
Swan believed the 2010 Magpies were a superior side to the team that made the preliminary final last year.
“Our side has probably got 25 games extra playing together. Our back six has played 70-80 games together so they have really gelled as a unit and play to each other’s strengths,” he said.
“Even though Darren (Jolly) and Luke (Ball) have only played one game with us they have played over 100 games each. Our forward line showed yesterday we’ve got a number of goal kickers. And with Paul Medhurst coming back injury-free is going to be a huge bonus for us.”
Jolly had just 16 hit-outs in the win over the Bulldogs but Swan says his arrival has freed up Josh Fraser to play his natural game.
“Frase is still good when he went in the ruck. It gives him a bit more freedom to play around the ground and the weight of the world that is not on his shoulders. He’s not the biggest ruckman in the league. He can come on after Darren and run around the ground and do what he’s best at.”
