The full scale of the Sydney Swans’ growing midfield brigade will go under the microscope for the first time this year in Saturday night’s JLT Community Series fixture, assistant coach Steve Johnson says.
Last week’s practice match against GWS saw Tom Papley, Oliver Florent and a number of other young guns take on plenty of minutes at the centre bounce, and the returns of Sydney’s AFLX stars will now allow the Swans to experiment with a full compliment.
The Swans are set to welcome back Josh Kennedy, Luke Parker, Isaac Heeney and Aliir Aliir from last week’s AFLX tournament, with the former three ready to take control of the midfield reins at Blacktown International Sportspark.
The hard-nosed trio will lead Papley, Florent, George Hewett, Jordan Dawson, James Rowbottom and a number of other youngsters at the coalface of the contest, and Johnson says it shapes as an enormous opportunity.
“There are three inside midfielders coming back from AFLX, so we’ll be rotating a higher number of players through the midfield, and the guys that get squeezed can play half-back or half-forward roles. But we’ll look to get a lot of players to go through the midfield at different stages of the game,” Johnson told Swans Media.
“We’ve had a bigger mix of players going through the midfield over the pre-season. There’s quite a large group that can play through the midfield, and adding the likes of Papley and Florent gives us a bit of a different look.
“While they’re really good at the positions they play, with Florent being a winger and Papley being an excellent small forward, they can give a lot of value when they join in at centre bounces and at stoppages, with the speed they have and their ability to break away.”
The clash will also see 22-year-old key defender Lewis Melican continue to scale the mountain in his comeback from an injury-hampered 2018 campaign.
The Swans’ 2017 Rising Star winner, who managed just three senior games in 2018, was sturdy in defence as Sydney overcame GWS in last week’s practice match.
Melican has been named to play at full-back in Saturday’s JLT Community Series hit-out, with Dane Rampe and Aliir Aliir flanking him in the two back pockets.
Johnson says the clash will give the Swans a chance to put a highly competitive side on the ground.
“It’s an opportunity for us to put a really strong team on the park and see how some of the things we’ve been working on during the pre-season play out against really good opposition,” Johnson said.
“I think GWS will have a really strong team as well.
“We’ve only got two games to prepare for Round 1, which is coming around really quickly, so we really want to get out there and put our best foot forward.”
One player forwards coach Johnson is thrilled to see return is the towering Sam Reid, who’s on the cusp of his first match since featuring in the NEAFL last July.
Injury limited the 2012 premiership forward to just one senior game in 2018, but he’s now ready to start a new chapter off the back of a sparkling pre-season campaign.
Johnson said Reid would add plenty of firepower to Sydney’s forward set-up.
“You can never have enough weapons up forward. We certainly missed Sam last year. Tom McCartin did a fantastic job as an 18-year-old kid playing at centre half-forward, but having Sam back will be great,” Johnson said.
“He’s a player that can work up and back down the ground, he’s really strong in a marking contest and he’s a good finisher around goals as well. So it’s a big plus to have him fit at this time of year.”
