Buddy not yet at ‘full power’

SWANS URGE PATIENCE

SYDNEY coach John Longmire has told fans they will have to be patient with Lance Franklin, who he says will take some time to build into the AFL season.

Franklin struggled for impact when he came on in the second half of the Swans’ 45point loss to Brisbane in their first practice match on Friday, and Longmire said it would be a few weeks before the 36year-old reached “full power” after he was managed cautiously in 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 said.

“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 preseason, 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 said his side was continuing to evolve in the wake of its humiliating 81point defeat to Geelong in the grand final, but the loss was no reason to swing the axe on established players, citing the Cats’ own rebound from their preliminary final 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 said.

“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 medisub in the grand final, and 209cm rugby union convert Lachlan McAndrew were named as two players Longmire could see breaking into the senior side in the early stages 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 said.

“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.”