After Lewis Jetta departed for Western Australia during the exchange period, Jake Lloyd took up the challenge to fill the void.

And the 22-year-old hasn’t disappointed.

The wingman is averaging a career-high 23 disposals this season and is playing with renewed confidence, which has helped the Sydney Swans’ midfield grow in stature.

It wasn’t just the coaches who levelled with Lloyd when the pre-season kicked off.

Lloyd, who will line up for game 50 this weekend, took it upon himself to make sure Jetta’s absence wouldn’t hurt the Swans in 2016.

“It put a little bit more pressure on me to step up and take over his position in the team,” he said.

“I feel a lot more confident out there and the coaches seem a lot more confident in me.

“Hopefully I can continue to get better this year.”

Lloyd hasn’t missed a beat since his debut against Fremantle in Round 5, 2014.

He went into that season as a rookie, but by year’s end Lloyd had progressed to the senior list and since then has missed only two games.

And his hard work has continued.

Lloyd went back to his home town of Horsham, 300km north-west of Melbourne, during the offseason where the training didn’t stop.

Session after session meant Lloyd was fit and firing by day one of pre-season.

He also learned a bit more about himself along the way.

“I spent a bit of time back home and did a bit of training with some people,” Lloyd said.

“I learnt a bit about my body as well. I’ve learnt how to maintain a level of consistency with training and to get my body right for training.

“Its little things like that have helped me get better.”

While Saturday will be just another game for the hard-running Swan, the significance of playing 50 games isn’t lost.

“It was a dream to play AFL football,” he added.

“To reach 50 games is something very special for me and my family who sacrificed a lot when I was growing up to give me this opportunity.

“I know there’s a bit more in it for me. Hopefully I can go out there, have a good game and we can come home with a win.”