Jones, who was the club’s first round selection in the 2013 National Draft, comes into the side in place of Dan Hannebery, who is sidelined with an ankle injury, while Gary Rohan has been omitted from the side.
Speaking to SwansTV for Centrum Team Selection, John Longmire said he was thrilled to be able to select Jones for his first AFL match this week.
Zak's in for debut
“Zak is a player who we picked up in the Draft last year,” he said.
“He’s a terrific player and he’s versatile and can play a number of different positions - forward, back or midfield - and he’s been playing in our midfield rotation in the reserves and has been doing a pretty good job of that.
“He’s a player who gives us good run and he’s a competitive beast, which is always handy, and we’re really looking forward to seeing him play his first game.”
Friday night’s match will also see the return of Pyke, who was named in the Swans’ team last week but was a late withdrawal from the clash with Port Adelaide.
Longmire said Pyke would present as an important option up forward in addition to his ruck duties in tomorrow night’s clash against the Tigers.
“Mike gives us that ability in the ruck or forward as he plays both positions pretty well,” Longmire said.
“We know from experience last year that he’s been able to play forward for us, and he’s been able to play in the ruck for us, and give us a big effort in the ruck as well.
“We need players who can play a number of different roles and a number of different variations as the game progresses because we need to be flexible.”
The coach added that Rohan, who will return to the Swans reserves practice match this weekend, narrowly missed out on selection.
“Gaz only played the last quarter last week and we were tossing up whether to play him this week or not or play him as the sub again,” Longmire said.
“We just wanted to make sure that we continued to build on his match fitness and that’s something he needs to keep working on.
“We’re sure he’ll be back in the side soon.”
Richmond v Sydney Swans Match Day Information
The Swans will be looking to post their ninth consecutive win on Friday night when they meet Richmond at the MCG.
Longmire said his team wouldn’t be underestimating Richmond this week after they put in a strong showing against last year’s grand finalist Fremantle last weekend.
“We know that Richmond’s best is really promising and it’s a strong brand of footy,” he said.
“We know that last week they had 14 more inside-50s than Fremantle and they played a good, strong brand of footy when they played the Kangaroos.
“Their first half of football against North Melbourne was extremely strong and they’ve got some talent in their team.
“We’ve got to be mindful of that and make sure that we bring our best as we always do.”
Richmond has also made two changes to their line-up for Friday night's match with young midfielder Reece Conca and former Port Adelaide midfielder Matt Thomas returning to the team.
Former Tigers captain Chris Newman (groin) and youngster Ben Lennon are the two who go out of the side who lost to Fremantle last weekend.
Brad Helbig, former Swan Nathan Gordon and Brett O’Hanlon are the three Richmond emergencies.
Richmond v Sydney Swans
Friday June 20, 2014
7.50pm AEST
MCG
B N.Smith, T.Richards, D.Rampe
HB J.Laidler, H.Grundy, R.Shaw
C N.Malceski, J.Kennedy, L.Jetta
HF A.Goodes, S.Reid, J.McVeigh
F L.Parker, L.Franklin, H.Cunningham
Foll M.Pyke, K.Jack, C.Bird
I/C T.Derickx, B.Jack, Z.Jones, J.Lloyd
Emg T.Membrey, T.Nankervis, G.Rohan
In: M.Pyke, Z.Jones
Out: D.Hannebery (ankle), G.Rohan
New: Z.Jones (Mt Eliza (Vic)/Dandenong U18)
