Sydney's Luke Parker says the young Swans are ready to share the midfield workload, with about a dozen capable of rolling through that crucial area.
Parker, captain Josh Kennedy and Dan Hannebery have long been the AFL side's midfield aces and primary ball winners.
Several players, most of who started their AFL career down back or up forward and had a taste of midfield duties last year, are set to spend more time there in 2018.
Among those are forwards Tom Papley and Will Hayward, along with half-backs Callum Mills, Zak Jones and Nic Newman.
"For us as a midfield, we've been working a lot with the rotations and having a lot more depth go through there," Parker said on Friday.
"We've probably got 12 or so guys who can go through the midfield at any given time.
"You'll see probably a few more of the younger boys who are now up to about 50 games."
Sydney start their campaign away to West Coast on March 25 at Optus Stadium.
They made it to the finals for an eighth straight season last year despite an 0-6 start, and the expectations of the Swans remain high.
"I think the public have that opinion that we should be up there every year and we put that pressure on ourselves and expectation on ourselves to play to a high standard," Parker said.
Parker, whose goal tally of 15 last year was his lowest since 2012, wants to have more impact when he drifts forward.
"It's not really putting a number (of goals) on it. For me it's just making sure when I'm forward to have a presence and be dangerous," he said.
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