Wearing the Indigenous Round jersey his mother designed for the club, Goodes - the subject of much recent conjecture after being booed during games in Melbourne - charged menacingly towards a section of Carlton supporters after scoring a goal, ending up on the boundary line before turning back to join his teammates.

Some supporters in the area appeared stunned, others yelled back at the dual Brownlow medallist, who was playing his 358th career game.

During the halftime break security guards and police spent several minutes in the section Goodes had run towards. An AFL spokesman said there had been an exchange between supporters following the Goodes incident. One was evicted from the ground and another taken to an interview room, where police were deciding on a possible charge.

Goodes said in an on-field interview straight after the game his celebration was about his pride in his heritage and not a reaction to any heckling or taunts from within the crowd.

"Not at all mate," he said. "It's Indigenous round. I'm proud to represent."

It was a curious turn of events as much of the drama on the night was expected to be focused on Carlton after their dramatic parting with coach Mick Malthouse this week. And, without the three leading players - captain Marc Murphy, dual Brownlow medallist Chris Judd and reigning best and fairest winner Bryce Gibbs, who are all out injured - the worry was whether the Blues, under interim coach John Barker, could provide any resistance to the high-flying Swans.

The answer is that they did in periods and seemed to play with a weight off their shoulders. The fact that they edged the Swans in the final term by three points said a lot about their frame of mind and endeavour. However, over the long term they could not match the pressure and skill of a side that six days ago toppled Hawthorn and was spearheaded by a lively seven-goal performance by Lance Franklin.

The Blues showed their intent from the start yet the Swans ended up tallying their highest first quarter score of the season so far to lead 32-10 after a five-goals-to-one opening term in front of 32,105 fans.

Sydney added four goals to one in a second quarter that featured a pair of majors to 150-gamer Ben McGlynn, a first for debutant Dan Robinson and the goal by Goodes that spurred a celebration that will be replayed many times in the coming days. The Swans led at half time 9.4.58 to 2.4.16.

Sydney pulled away again after the break with a six-goals-to-three third term, which built their lead to 63 points.

Early in the fourth the Blues had more misery heaped on them when Chris Yarran was assisted from the field after badly twisting his right ankle. But they never gave up, levelling the ledger with their in-form hosts four goals apiece.

The Swans midfield was slow to get going but did enough to hold the advantage with Kieren Jack (30), Tom Mitchell (28) and Lewis Jetta (27) leading the possessions for them. Dan Hannebery had 25 touches and made eight tackles. Mike Pyke had 53 hitouts. A host of Swans scored two goals each, adding to Franklin's large haul.

For the Blues, Andrew Carrazzo topped the possessions and tackles with 29 and seven. Tom Bell also had 29, while Andrejs Everitt and Levi Casboult kicked two goals each.

SYDNEY 5.2 9.4 15.8 19.8 (122) CARLTON 1.4 2.4 5.5 9.8 (62)
GOALS Sydney: Franklin 7, Goodes 2, McGlynn 2, Hannebery 2, Rohan 2, Tippett 2, Robinson, McVeigh. Carlton: Everitt 2, Casboult 2, Wood, Armfield, Buckley, Cripps, Tuohy.
BEST: Sydney: Franklin, Jack, Jetta, Hannebery Carlton: Carrazzo, Cripps, Everitt, Simpson.
INJURIES Sydney: Grundy (quad) replaced in selected team by B Jack. Carlton: Menzel (knee). Yarran (ankle).
UMPIRES: Meredith, Kamolins, Deboy.
CROWD: 32,105 at SCG.