The Swans' 14.9 (93) to 10.11 (71) win also means Carlton will almost certainly miss the finals after falling two games behind North Melbourne (seventh), Essendon (eighth, pending the result of its twilight game against Adelaide) and Fremantle (ninth).
The Swans' ninth consecutive win has them extremely well placed to snare a top-two position. Even though they have a tough draw coming home - Collingwood (ANZ Stadium), Western Bulldogs (Etihad Stadium), Hawthorn (SCG) and Geelong (Skilled Stadium) - their percentage is considerably better than their nearest challengers, Collingwood and Adelaide.
Better still, the Swans beat the Blues with an exciting brand of footy that suggests they can be a legitimate premiership contender this September.
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However, the win in Ryan O'Keefe's 250th game came at a cost with another veteran, Jude Bolton, injuring his left knee late in the third quarter and being subbed out of the game.
With Dan Hannebery, Kieren Jack, Jarrad McVeigh and Josh Kennedy dominating at stoppages, the Swans were able to release runners like Lewis Jetta into open space.
They also delivered the ball with precision to the forward line where Adam Goodes and Lewis Roberts-Thomson provided strong targets and Ben McGlynn was a constant threat at their feet.
In defence, Ted Richards continued his fine form at full-back, keeping young Blues forward Levi Casboult quiet while zoning off to help out his fellow defenders wherever possible.
The Blues were brave in defeat despite lacking the Swans' class, fighting back several times when it seemed the visitors were on the verge of building match-winning leads.
After the game Swans coach John Longmire paid credit to their tenacity.
"I thought we probably got caught up at times in a bit of footy that we didn't want to play. We didn't have any forward tackles there for a while and some key indicators we're pretty keen to get," Longmire said.
"But we did play some patches of really good footy and played really well at times, but it's difficult to play the sort of footy that we want to play all the time against a team that [had won] three out of their last four and had it all on the line tonight.
"There's got to be some credit to the opposition as well."
Jarrad Waite, who was playing his 150th game and first match since the Blues' round seven loss to St Kilda, gave the Blues the lead-up target they had been missing in recent rounds.
In the midfield, Marc Murphy and Brock McLean battled hard, while a helmeted Kade Simpson was serviceable in his first game back after three weeks on the sidelines with a broken jaw.
Carlton coach Brett Ratten was pleased with his team's endeavour against the Swans, saying its form had been pretty good since the round 10 loss to Port Adelaide.
"I thought there were a lot of encouraging signs with some of the individuals, but just their intensity from a team point of view was greater than ours for four quarters," Ratten said
The match started at breakneck speed with both teams regularly finding space through the middle of the ground.
The Swans had the better of general play and got out to a 20-point lead at the 21-minute mark through their dominance of stoppages and precise ball use.
However, the Blues fought back, kicking the last two goals of the term to go into quarter-time just nine points down.
The Swans looked to take control of the game when they kicked four straight goals in the opening 13 minutes of the second quarter to take a 34-point lead.
However, the Blues again kicked the term's final two goals to trail by 21 points at half-time.
CARLTON 3.1 5.3 6.6 10.11 (71)
SYDNEY SWANS 4.4 8.6 11.8 14.9 (93)
?GOALS?
Sydney Swans: McGlynn 3, Hannebery 2, Roberts-Thomson 2, Bird, Goodes, Jack, McVeigh, Jetta, Malceski, Mumford
Carlton: Waite 3, Armfield 2, Garlett 2, Casboult, Gibbs, Murphy
BEST
Sydney Swans: Hannebery, Jack, Goodes, Jetta, McVeigh, McGlynn, Richards, Smith
Carlton: Gibbs, McLean, Waite, Scotland, Murphy, Yarran
?INJURIES
Sydney Swans: Bolton (knee)
Carlton: Jamison (hamstring)
SUBSTITUTES?
Sydney Swans: Jude Bolton replaced by Trent Dennis-Lane in the third quarter?
Carlton: Michael Jamison replaced by Marcus Davies in the third quarter
?Reports: Nil? ?Umpires: Stevis, Leppard, Mollison
?
Official crowd: 36,942 at Etihad Stadium
The views in this article are those of the author and not necessarily those of the AFL or its clubs.
