BACK in 1964, Japanese film director Ishiro Honda introduced a winged, three-headed monster called Ghidorah to the highly successful Godzilla franchise.

Godzilla's arch nemesis, Ghidorah arrives on earth via a meteorite and immediately begins laying waste to Tokyo and throwing down a challenge to the iconic Japanese character.

In 2013, Sydney Swans coach John Longmire is set to introduce his own three-headed monster onto the AFL landscape - Lewis Roberts-Thomson.

A key defender for the first eight years of his career, in 2011 Roberts-Thomson found himself in the forward line at times and also as a pinch-hitter in the ruck.

He then spent the majority of 2012 up front, kicking 25 goals for the year, just shy of the 26 goals in total he had kicked in his previous nine seasons.

This year, opponents will play a continual guessing game when they face the shaggy-haired utility, who will rotate across all three positions over the course of the season.

"He can do all those roles really well and he helps the team structure enormously," Longmire said.

"He's good on the ground, he's a real competitor and he's good in the air.

"The good thing about having 'Lewie' in your 22 is if you get an injury to a ruck or a key defender or a key forward, you don't hesitate to put him into any of those roles and help you out.

"I actually spoke to him about it this morning and told him to be prepared for anything and everything during the pre-season and during the season."

Roberts-Thomson will need to be versatile, as the arrival of Kurt Tippett puts even more pressure on the side's big men to hold down a position.

Last year, as the Swans marched to the premiership, talls Shane Mumford, Mike Pyke, Sam Reid, Adam Goodes, Roberts-Thomson, Ted Richards and Heath Grundy all excelled.

Throw the 202cm ruck/forward option Tippett into the mix, once his suspension ends in round 12, and competition for places in the Swans' final 22 will be fierce.

Roberts-Thomson concedes the addition of Tippett could further alter his role.

"Possibly," he said. "There might be some slight tinkering to bits and pieces.

"In a number of sides now there seem to be a number of players that can play forward and back and cover different positions on the ground.

"It just seems to be one of the trends in the game at the moment."

Longmire, for one, is happy to keep his options open.

"What I learned last year is that at this time of year, you probably have a vision of what the team will look like, and at the end of the year it's quite different," he said.

"We had two genuine rucks in our finals team. This time last year we didn't think we were going to do that.

"We've learned to be a bit flexible."

In a 2008 review of the film Ghidorah, the Three-Headed Monster, critic James Rolfe wrote "three heads are better than one".

It's a philosophy Roberts-Thomson looks set to live by in 2013.