Sydney Swans half-back Jake Lloyd has been assigned the unenviable tasks of clamping down on pocket-rocket small forwards Tom Papley and Ben Ronke in pre-season match simulation.
And Sydney’s reigning Club Champion says the two explosive Swans are among a host of fresh faces reaching new heights ahead of season 2019.
Lloyd, who pipped star pair Luke Parker and Lance Franklin for his first Bob Skilton Medal last October, took a big stride forward in his comeback from off-season hip surgery as he returned to match simulation last week.
And not only did Lloyd’s return to full training reacquaint his body with the rigours of a game, the 25-year-old said the surging form of Sydney’s young stars hit home.
“I’ve chopped and changed across half-back in match simulation on guys like Tom Papley and Ben Ronke. They’re similar guys to those I’ll be playing on during the footy season. Those two are real livewires for us down forward and are both having very big pre-seasons,” Lloyd said on Melbourne radio station SEN.
“Our younger guys have really stepped up their loads this year. Guys like Isaac Heeney and Callum Mills have taken their games to another level, and we’ve got a couple of other really exciting young kids coming through at the moment. Nick Blakey’s presence down forward in match simulation has been superb. It’s very exciting to see that young group of guys coming through.”
Lloyd wasn’t named in Sydney’s eight-man leadership group for 2019, which sees Josh Kennedy, Luke Parker and Dane Rampe lead the Swans in a three-way co-captaincy structure, with Jarrad McVeigh, Nick Smith, Heeney, Mills and Papley rounding out the rank.
But Lloyd, who in 2018 became the quickest Swan in history to reach 100 AFL games, says the fact he’s not a member of the leadership group doesn’t alter his mindset.
“I wasn’t named in the leadership group but that doesn’t change much for me,” Lloyd said.
“We’ve got a lot of young kids in the team who are a little bit inexperienced, so for me it’s about continuing to drive them. Some of those guys are going to look to take my spot, but that’s a good spot to be in. I’ve just got to continue to bring them up to speed as quickly as possible, which is a big part of my role down in the back half.”
Fellow defender Jackson Thurlow left Geelong for Sydney just four months ago, but the 24-year-old this week told SwansTV that Lloyd and a number of other experienced Swans had already made a massive impact on his game.
“I’ve predominantly been training at half-back during the pre-season and am learning off guys like Jake Lloyd, Jarrad McVeigh, Heath Grundy and Dane Rampe, who’ve all been really helpful.”