JARRAD McVeigh may have won the Sydney Swans’ best and fairest playing across half-back, but says he's no guarantee to take on the role vacated by Nick Malceski this season.

McVeigh is one of a handful of players who have put their hand up to play the position this year following the departure of Malceski to Gold Coast.

While some might expect the Swans captain to be a an easy fix for the position, having won the Bob Skilton Medal in the role in 2013, the likes of Lewis Jetta, Jeremy Laidler, Gary Rohan and Dane Rampe are also in the reckoning.

"We've got a number of guys who have been trialling through the pre-season and nowadays you have to play in a number of different positions," McVeigh told AAP on Sunday.

"We've had Lewis Jetta down there and (Jeremy) Laidler who can play there and I've been down there.

"So we've got a lot of guys who can run through there - you can't give your opposition just one thing, you've got to be able to play different areas and that's what we're trying to do."

The Swans will kick off their NAB Challenge campaign against the Brisbane Lions in Coffs Harbour on Friday.


After missing the Swans' intra-club match on Friday, McVeigh said he expected to return against Fremantle on March 15.

McVeigh nominated Daniel Robinson as one of the standouts during the pre-season and tipped him to make his debut this year. 

After being drafted in 2013, the 20-year-old has spent two years in the NEAFL and was recently upgraded to the senior list.

"(Robinson) has been a really good forward for us and hopefully he can come up ... he's really stepped up and hopefully he can snag a few games for us this year," McVeigh said.

"He's a dangerous forward and a smart forward.

"In the first couple of years he was just learning the game-plan and what it takes to play AFL footy and he's grasped that really quickly and learning from the best players in the team."