Sydney have been labelled the ‘slow Swans’ after shock loss

Sydney are under pressure to speed up a slow midfield and put conditioning into Lance Franklin after an alarming round one loss.

Lance Franklin of the Swans (right) and Bailey Smith of the Bulldogs contest during the Round 1 AFL match between the Western Bulldogs and the Sydney Swans at Marvel Stadium in Melbourne, Saturday, March 23, 2019. (AAP Image/Julian Smith) NO ARCHIVING, EDITORIAL USE ONLY

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It’s one thing to be a graceful Swan, but Sydney have been branded just plain slow following their alarming round one loss to the Western Bulldogs.

The brutal assessment from AFL great Nathan Brown about the perennial top eight side’s distinct lack of pace comes as the Swans laid bare their desperation for underdone superstar Lance Franklin to be able to immediately adapt to a midweek training program.

Sydney were made to look vulnerable for three quarters of their shock first-up loss to the Bulldogs, and experts believe Franklin’s lack of conditioning isn’t the only potentially season-defining problem facing coach John Longmire.

Former Essendon champion Matthew Lloyd says there are serious question marks over whether leaping highlight reel Isaac Heeney — already with a nomination for mark of the year — can be persevered with in the Swans midfield, suggesting Sydney may need to leave him in the forward line.

Lance Franklin and the Swans found the Bulldogs too slick. Pic: AAP

A horrendous start cost the Swans in a JLT Cup clash against GWS in the pre-season, and again on Saturday night they stumbled out of the blocks and gave the Bulldogs a 40-point lead.

But according to Brown, the greater alarm bells surround the ‘slow Swans’ sluggishness in the midfield.

“What I noticed about Sydney was their lack of pace,” said Brown on Nine’s Sunday Footy Show.

“They were very, very slow and one-paced through the midfield. (Luke) Parker didn’t touch it, (Josh) Kennedy didn’t touch it.”

Lloyd said as brilliant as Heeney was at stages, question marks are being asked over whether Longmire has him playing in the wrong position.

“He’s got to become a dominant midfielder to try and support guys like (Kieran) Jack and Parker,” Lloyd told Nine.

“Some are questioning whether he is a midfielder. Some think he might be a pure forward.”

Longmire conceded his side did look slow early on and his demand for more urgency did result in a surging comeback that at point had the Swans a kick away from levelling the scores at the final stretch.

The coach accused his players of “ball watching”.

Swans skipper Josh Kennedy is a contested ball beast but isn’t the quickest midfielder. Pic: Getty Images

Sydney’s ability to get Franklin training regularly between matches looks set to hold the key to the Swans’ hopes in 2019.

Longmire is desperate for Franklin to find a regular groove during the week that can allow him more impact on game day, starting with him to train in Sydney’s main session under lights on Wednesday ahead of Friday night’s big clash against Adelaide at the SCG.

Franklin basically didn’t train at all last year and the Swans still made the finals, but there are concerns that’s not sustainable.

Former AFL great Leigh Montagna made the bold prediction before round one that Franklin might be “on the decline”.

Longmire said training was the answer to getting Franklin firing.

“We knew coming in he is going to be time limited, but we decided to make that decision and put him in the team,” said Longmire.

“Hopefully he can get going in regards to that training program and if he can get through that he can improve his game time.

“Once you get into game mode that is the challenge of being able to recover and train.”

Originally published as Sydney have been labelled the ‘slow Swans’ after shock loss