If Lewis Roberts-Thomson could have one milestone game wish, it might be to stay out of the ruck this weekend.

The utility player, who will play his 150th game at the SCG this week, said covering ruck duties against Fremantle big man Aaron Sandilands was not something anyone would look forward to.

“(Sandilands) is a great ruckman and is probably one of the best ruckmen in the competition,” he said.

“You’re not going to win too many against Aaron, so it’s all about maybe roving to his taps and definitely limiting his output.

“Coming up against him, who I think has about 15cm on me is definitely a daunting task.”

But while the task of potentially lining up on Sandilands is daunting, Roberts-Thomson said he was happy to play wherever Swans coach John Longmire needed him on the ground.

“I might have to talk to him after training about (playing on Sandilands),” Roberts-Thomson joked.

“But I’m happy to play wherever the coach wants me to play, and that’s the thing about AFL footy there’s a few surprises along the way,” he said.

“Positionally I still enjoy playing down back but I’m happy to play wherever the coach wants me to.”

Despite starting his career in defence, Roberts-Thomson has taken on roles up forward as well as in the ruck for the Swans since his debut with Sydney in 2003.

But whether or not he takes up the role of second ruckman on Saturday against the Dockers, Roberts-Thomson said the ability to play different roles has become an important part of playing AFL.

“We haven’t really spoken about team selection yet this week or structures, so I’m not sure what my role will be this week, but I’ll definitely do my research,” he said.

“Players these days need to be versatile with the new interchange rule, it allows for players to play different sorts of positions or it means they need to be able to play different positions.

“I think as a young player coming through these days if you play a variety of positions it’s really helpful.”

Roberts-Thomson said the Swans are in for some tough competition this weekend against the Dockers, who upstaged last year’s premiers Geelong in Perth last weekend.

“We’ve got a game against Freo that we’re really looking forward to,” he said.

“They had a great win against the Cats last week and they’re going to be a massive challenge this week.”

Roberts-Thomson said despite playing the AFL’s newest team, GWS, in the first round of the competition, the team’s preparation has been no different for the Dockers this week.

“I think preparing for any game you need to be at peak performance,” he said.

“It’s about what we have here and it’s about living up to AFL standards and really driving the behaviours that we have here and trying to control what we can control.

“In terms of plans that might change from week to week depending on opposition, but our intensity and determination will be all exactly the same.”