A self-described "putrid" 2014 season behind him, Dane Swan has started the season a rejuvenated man. 

Those writing off the 2011 Brownlow medallist as past his prime better think again.

Swan, 31, was back to his best against St Kilda on Friday night with 39 disposals, 18 contested possessions, 15 inside 50s, 13 score involvements and three score assists. 

Swan's tally of 15 inside 50s was the equal-second most number of entries by a player Champion Data has ever recorded. 

Only North Melbourne's Adam Simpson, now West Coast coach, who had a total of 16 inside 50s against Collingwood in round six, 1999, has had more.

The star midfielder also had the highest-scoring game of his career in the Official AFL Player Ratings, recording 32 points which topped the League in round three. 

Of his 15 entries, 13 were counted as kicks inside 50. But what was most impressive was that 10 of his 13 kicks inside 50 were retained (77 per cent), which equals the record according to Champion Data. 

The AFL average in 2015 is 52 per cent.

In addition, six of his 13 entries (46 per cent) were marked by teammates, well above the AFL average of 21 per cent.

"His kicks under pressure were to good positions, but the ones where he lowered his eyes and hit targets demonstrated his effectiveness," Magpies coach Nathan Buckley told AFL Media. 

Swan had a largely interrupted pre-season after hip surgery laid him low before Christmas. 

He gradually worked his way up to a decent level, after spending session upon session running laps around Collingwood's training oval. 

However, Buckley said Swan was yet to reach peak fitness. 

"He's building week on week and we knew that was going to happen. His best training stimulus is actually the games," Buckley said. 

"He's still got fitness to gain and he's still got to keep building that resilience to back up week on week."