Sydney unleash Franklin

AFTER spending a large slice of his preseason with his left arm in a sling, Lance Franklin is finally ready to spread his wings in Friday night’s JLT series match against the GWS Giants at Blacktown.

The superstar forward is fully recovered from a shoulder reconstruction and will make his first appearance since Sydney’s grand final loss to the Western Bulldogs.

“Buddy will play,” Swans assistant coach Henry Playfair said. “(Franklin’s preseason) has only been a little bit hampered but only in the contact sense. He’s done the majority of sessions.

“He’s just had to be careful and so have the guys around him not to injure his shoulder but he’s been back in contact for a couple of weeks and ready to go.”

Playfair will temporarily take over the senior coaching role from John Longmire for Friday night’s match. He says Franklin hasn’t missed a beat since successful pre-Christmas surgery on his shoulder.

“He’s been on board (with the program) since day one and has ticked every box along the journey,” Playfair said.

“It’s been pretty seamless up to this point and he’s got one more training session to get through and we’ll see him out there. We’ll get through this one and then make the call on whether he plays the last game.”

The Swans will also be boosted by the return of All Australian defender Dane Rampe, former co-captain Kieren Jack and grand final ruckman Sam Naismith.

“It’s good to get some experience in the group and for those guys to get a hitout and some minutes under their belts,” Playfair said. “Ideally we wanted just enough minutes to get them ready for Round 1 and we’ll get that.”

Friday night’s match will be the first meeting with the Giants since the fiery clash in the qualifying final at ANZ Stadium.

“It’s in the context of the season and it’s JLT two,” Playfair said.

“The main thing is it’s against really good opposition which GWS are. It’s less about them and more about preparing ourselves for Round 1 against quality.”

It will be Playfair’s second appearance in the coaching hot seat after a cameo two years ago during the pre-season competition.