Sydney coach John Longmire has instructed followers they must be affected person with Lance Franklin, who he says will take a while to construct into the AFL season.
Franklin struggled for influence when he got here on within the second half of the Swans’ 45-point loss to Brisbane of their first follow match on Friday, and Longmire stated it could be a number of weeks earlier than the 36-year-old reached “full power” after he was managed cautiously by the pre-season.
“It wouldn’t be too much of a surprise to say we don’t expect him to play every week, every minute of the game … at 36, it can be a real challenge to do that,” Longmire instructed RSN’s Breakfast with Harf program.
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“He’s had a bit of a restricted pre-season – he only played a half last week.
“He hasn’t been going at full power through the pre-season, so the plan is to build him up again this week, and it will take a few weeks for him to hit his stride.”
Longmire stated the Swans aspect was persevering with to evolve within the wake of its humiliating 81-point defeat to Geelong within the grand last, however the loss was no cause to swing the axe on established gamers, citing the Cats’ personal rebound from their preliminary last capitulation in 2021.
“Those things unfortunately happen, we dealt with it at the end of last year … we didn’t live up to the test on grand final day against the most mature team that has played in the competition in Geelong,” Longmire stated.
“They were at the other end of the spectrum – they certainly played very well and they deserved it – they’re a great team, and they got beaten the year before by 80-odd points in a prelim final.”
Young halfback Braeden Campbell, who was the medi-sub within the grand last, and 209cm rugby union convert Lachlan McAndrew had been named as two gamers Longmire may see breaking into the senior aspect within the early phases of the season.
“I’d like to see the continued development of Braeden Campbell. We think that he’s played a bit of footy for us now but we’ve seen bits and pieces of him, and we’re really looking forward to him coming on,” Longmire stated.
“We expect with Tom Hickey at the moment having a calf injury that (McAndrew) will certainly be looking at some game time at some point early in the season, and that will be great for Swans fans to see as well.”
McAndrew, who led the Swans’ ruck division towards the Lions, was benefiting tremendously from working with a fellow former rookie-listed participant in Dean Cox, Longmire stated.
“To have (Cox) available for our young rucks is fantastic for them – Lachie is learning a lot off him at the moment,” he stated.
Source: www.news.com.au
