Young Swans forward Ben Ronke will face the team he supported as a kid for the first time ever when Sydney takes on Essendon at Etihad Stadium on Friday night.

The 20-year-old grew up idolising champion Bombers Matthew Lloyd and James Hird as an Essendon local and always dreamed of donning the sash himself.

He hoped and prayed that day would come as he took to the 2016 national draft, but the Bombers would overlook the Essendon nut and Sydney snapped him up, securing his signature as a rookie later in the month.

“I always was a Bombers man,” Ronke told Fox Sports show On The Mark.

“Dad was a die-hard Bombers fan and he instilled that in me at a young age.

“I’ve been really excited for Friday’s game. It’ll be good to play against the club that I grew up barracking for.”

Ronke is honing his craft under the tutelage of forwards coach Steve Johnson and superstar forward Lance Franklin, a set-up he says is “incredible”.

Johnson booted 516 career goals in stints with Geelong and GWS and is one of the greatest small forwards to have ever graced the game.

The three-time premiership star joined the Swans' coaching panel ahead of the 2018 season, swapping Giants colours for red and white in a cross-town switch.

Ronke had the best seat in the house for Franklin’s 300^th goal in Swans colours in Sydney’s Round 9 win over Fremantle, and the four-time Coleman Medallist’s 900^th career major in the thrilling win over North Melbourne again gave Ronke reason to marvel.

The second-year Swan has lapped up every word of advice from the star duo in a glittering breakout season, snaring 21 goals across 12 games and turning heads with his tremendous pressure at the contest.

He snared two goals at the Cattery on debut in Round 6 as Sydney clinched a win for the ages and truly burst on to the scene in Round 8, slamming home seven goals against Hawthorn under Friday night lights at the MCG.

Ronke complemented his seven-goal haul with 10 tackles and proved he was no one-hit wonder when he bagged five majors against the Roos in Round 17.

The up-and-comer said Johnson and Franklin had played a big hand in his rapid rise.

“There’s obviously a lot of footy knowledge and forward-line knowledge between those two,” Ronke said.

“I’ve loved having Stevie around this year. He’s had faith in me from early in the season when I hadn’t played my first game. He was pushing my case every week and someone like that having faith in you gives you a lot of confidence to draw from.

“Franklin tries to get the best out of us young forwards, like Will Hayward and Tom Papley and myself. We all feed as much as we can off him. You can see how passionate and unselfish he is in the way he has a really vested interest in our games and our development, as much as he does for his.”