It was wet-weather football at its best when Gold Coast and Sydney went head to head at the SCG in round two last year.

Inspirational Swans co-captain Jarrad McVeigh opened the scoring for the home side, kicking the first goal of the game in what was a tough and pressure-filled quarter of football, with the GC SUNS leading by one point at the first break.

Karmichael Hunt showed his talent as a tagger as he kept prolific midfielder Josh Kennedy to just 11 disposals at the half-time break.

The third quarter saw both sides kick five goals each, and the physical pressure intensified as the reigning premiers kicked into gear.

Sydney’s brilliance and experience stood strong throughout the last quarter with Ryan O’Keefe (27 disposals and two goals), McVeigh (27 disposals and four goals) and Kennedy (28 disposals and one goal) contributing across the ground.

Second-gamer Jaeger O’Meara excelled throughout the contest and finished with 25 disposals and seven tackles, with help from Jarrod Harbrow (23 disposals) and Dion Prestia (22 disposals).

Charlie Dixon (three goals) and Aaron Hall (two goals) were the multiple goal kickers for the SUNS.

Nick Smith and Kieren Jack were able to keep Gary Ablett quiet, compared to his usual exceptional standards, with the star skipper kept to 24 disposals for the match. 

Swans coach John Longmire mentioned post-match that he was happy with the effort on Ablett.

"It's not an easy job," Longmire said.

"'Smooch' (Smith) had him when he was forward and Kieren in the midfield and I thought they did a pretty good job.

"(Jack) was the logical match-up for Gary in the middle of the ground.

"Gary still got a bit of the ball, he was always going to get it, but it was under pressure and we restricted his influence to the point where it allowed us to be competitive and win the game."

SUNS coach Guy McKenna was pleased with his side’s display and the way his playing group tested the Swans in key areas of the game.

"I said to the boys leading into this week it is going to be a mental challenge to see if we can back up after our result in round one and I thought they did," he said.

"It was just purely Sydney's class.”