THE SYDNEY Swans played a relatively small role in Tuesday's rookie draft, but the club was delighted to be able to use one of its two 'live' picks to usher Kristin Thornton back into the fold.

It's not like the 20-year-old ever actually left, but manager of player acquisition Kinnear Beatson was relieved to officially welcome back Thornton after he was dropped from the senior list prior to the national draft in November.

"It was really pleasing for us to get Kristin Thornton back on board," Beatson said of the midfielder, who continues to take positive strides in his return from a knee reconstruction.

"He's trained really hard to get back into a position to be considered again which is great. He's had a good pre-season thus far and we're certainly pleased to have him back on board.

"You need to have a minimum of three draft picks in the national draft which is all that we had so someone had to come off the list and in this particular case it was Kristin.

"He was told that providing the rehab continued to go as well as it was that the club would look to take him back in the rookie draft.

"Pleasingly, for him and the club, that's been the case."

The Swans had already committed two of their four picks at the draft to international rookies Kyle Coney and Mike Pyke which left Taylor Gilchrist from the Sandringham Dragons to round out the club's day at pick 28.

"Taylor is a fairly lightly-built half-back, half-forward, wingman type that spent time between the Sandringham Dragons and Caulfield Grammar this year while he completed his year 12 studies," Beatson explained of the player he had tracked while he trained with Collingwood.

"He also played some games for Vic Metro in the national championships. He's about 189 cm and we see him as a tall wingman or a half-forward who can come up and mark the ball. We like his kicking and the games that he played he showed that he's a more than capable player."

Beatson gave Irishman Coney and Canadian Pyke a tick of approval for their application to learning the new game, but said the period of pre-season training after the Christmas break would provide a clearer indication of their progress.   

"They're adapting well, but it is early days and most of the work they're doing is fairly basic skill and conditioning work to get the running into them," he said.

"Both have been able to cope well with the work that has been thrown at them so far, but obviously after the break training will go up another notch and it will be interesting to see how they continue to cope, but so far the signs are really encouraging."