Young star Callum Mills appears set for a move to the midfield as he enters his fourth season at the Sydney Swans.

The 21-year-old will spend more time in the middle of the ground after the club bolstered its defensive stocks with the recruitment of Jackson Thurlow in the off-season.

Mills only played nine games last season after breaking his foot ahead Round 10, an injury that kept him on the sidelines for the remainder of the season.

Coach John Longmire said he is hopeful Mills will add further depth to Sydney’s midfield stocks in season 2019. 

“We would like to have Callum playing midfield if we can, that is the aim, and we have been thinking about that for the last couple of years,” Longmire said on SEN Radio.

“He has just been so good as a defender, last year he trained a bit with the midfield, but he just does the job so well as a defender.

“We would like to think that Thurlow and a few others can fill that hole for us this year which would allow Callum to go into that midfield role a bit more regularly.”

The 2016 Rising Star has been impressive in match practice at training throughout the pre-season.

“He has been playing midfield/forward a bit and doing that so well,” Longmire said.

“We know he has great talent and can go in there with Heeney, Hewett and some other young midfielders in that group which we think gives us a great point of difference.

“We hope it works out that way, but we know that he can play half back and be elite at that.”

After spending time in rehabilitation alongside Mills last season, Sam Reid is hoping to line up in Round 1 after a strong pre-season campaign.

Reid was restricted to one game for the Swans in season 2019.

Longmire said it’s still unclear if forward pair Lance Franklin and Daniel Menzel will line up in the season opener against the Western Bulldogs.

“Menzel and Franklin have had a similar operation, they are running but they are not yet training and we are not sure yet whether they will be right for Round 1,” Longmire said.

“They won’t play the JLT series, but they will play when they are ready.

“It is one game – it is an important game – but it is just one game, so we are going to make sure that they are ready to go and can play a whole season of really good footy for us.”