Compared to what he showed in that earlier hit out, his leap and intensity had improved considerably.

Simpson said he had pulled up well after the hit out.

“He's all smiles back there in terms of how he recovered,” he said.

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“We managed his time a little bit. We need to continue to do that. He would have played under 70, I suppose.”

In that 70 minutes he collected 12 possessions, put in four tackles and took three marks.

His goal, late in the third term from a free kick, came as his side was gaining momentum. Working back from a 30-point deficit, Naitanui’s six-pointer reduced the margin to just 11.

Twenty seconds later as the three-quarter-time siren sounded, Mark LeCras kicked his third goal to reduce it to just five.

But in the final term, the lack of conditioning got to Naitanui.

His reduced impact did take its toll. The Swans piled on seven goals, most of them late in the game in the fourth quarter.

Together with Scott Lycett though, West Coast dominated the ruck. Sydney went in with one big man in former Eagle Callum Sinclair, and the hit-out count finished a lopsided 66-17 in favour of the home side.

Lycett was also returning from a long lay off after injuries reduced him to only one game in 2017.

But with only 54 per cent of game time, Naitanui still led the hit-out count with 33.

“His presence is important for us,” Simpson said.

“Obviously, he's still building towards complete match fitness. But he's done enough in the past month, despite a lot of speculation, to play like he did tonight with confidence.”