Sydney Swans young guns Isaac Heeney and Callum Mills are expected to take on more minutes in the midfield in season 2019.

Swans Head of Football Charlie Gardiner said the youngsters were continuing to impress through their final week of pre-season training ahead of a three-week Christmas break.

Heeney and Mills have developed into important players since graduating from the QBE Sydney Swans Academy and donning the red and white in 2014 and 2015 respectively.

Gardiner says there’s every chance forward Heeney and half-back Mills will play bigger roles in the midfield in the Swans’ 2019 campaign.

“I think it’s certainly a possibility that those two will make greater contributions to our midfield rotation in 2019,” Gardiner told SEN.

“Isaac and Callum are two of our emerging stars, and they’ve had strong openings to the pre-season and haven’t missed a beat.

“I don’t know exactly where they’ll line up at this point as we’re still pre-Christmas. But the coaching staff’s thinking on that will progress early next year and I think you’ll see both of them thrown into different roles throughout the season.

“Callum has shown he can be really effective across half-back and Isaac has played all over the ground. I think it’s part of their development that they’ll continue to do that, but we’ll certainly be looking for them to keep developing and continue to emerge as two of our key players.”

Heeney claimed Sydney’s Rising Star award in 2015 and has gone on to play 80 senior games, while Mills took out the AFL’s Rising Star honour in 2016 and has stacked up 55 AFL matches.

A host of young talent has followed in their footsteps over the last couple of seasons, with Oliver Florent, Will Hayward, Ben Ronke and number of other fresh-faced Swans bursting on to the AFL scene.

Ronke (Round 8) and Florent (Round 11) both earned AFL Rising Star nominations in 2018, and Florent was presented the Swans’ Rising Star gong. 

Gardiner said the 2019 season would present Sydney’s youngsters with an enormous opportunity to shine.

“The emergence of Oliver Florent and Will Hayward was really positive for us last year and we’re hopeful that they’ll continue to develop,” Gardiner said.

“I think it’s well known that we’ve relied on a core group of senior players, led by Josh Kennedy, for a long time.

“But I think last year and this year we saw the emergence of a really talented young crop that we actually have coming through. Next season’s fortunes will depend a lot on their development.”

Another youngster fans should keep an eye on next year is towering forward Nick Blakey, recruited through Sydney’s first-round National Draft selection via the Swans Academy.

Tough inside midfielder James Rowbottom and lightning-quick wingmen Justin McInerney and Zac Foot also signed with the Swans at November’s National Draft – and Gardiner says 2019 is shaping as an exciting year for the budding pool of draftees.

“Nick Blakey is a great talent and he had been a part of the Academy for a long time, so we certainly know what he can do,” Gardiner said.

“We’re also really happy with James Rowbottom as well as Zac Foot and Justin McInerney, who are both athletic and good ball-users.

“So we’re really happy with how we went at the Draft and cannot wait to see what they can deliver in 2019.”