Defensive duo Ted Richards and Nick Smith have been added to a nine-man Sydney leadership group ahead of the 2012 AFL season.

Richards and Smith were announced as new additions by coach John Longmire on Tuesday after they were voted in by their team-mates.

They join a group headed by co-captains Adam Goodes and Jarrad McVeigh and also including Jude Bolton, Ryan O’Keefe, Kieran Jack, Rhyce Shaw and Jarred Moore.

“We’re thrilled,” Longmire told reporters on Tuesday.

“We think we’ve got a good spread of players experience-wise, position-wise all over the ground and we’re looking forward to hopefully these players helping drive the club cultures on and off the field for 2012.”

Longmire said their additions were consistent with the Swans’ leadership structure, started in 2005 when they named six co-captains to replace Stuart Maxfield.

“We don’t have any preconceived idea of numbers, it’s not about that for us,” Longmire said.

“It’s really about the players sitting down and looking at our behaviours and seeing which players fit into those behaviours and importantly will drive that, both themselves and the rest of the team.

“That’s what it’s about. We think we’ve got a good group and have had a good group of leaders here for a long period of time.”

The coach believed their roles as defenders would help them add a different perspective in team meetings.

“I just think they add another couple of voices that is really important for the whole group,” he said.

The Swans will continue their preparations for the 2012 season on Friday with pre-season cup matches against St Kilda and Geelong.