‘Cruisy lad’ Sam De Koning likely set to face Lance Franklin in AFL grand final
Sam De Koning may be a ‘cruisy lad’ but he still gets nervous before taking on a big opponent. And they don’t get any bigger than Lance ‘Buddy’ Franklin.
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Budding Geelong star Sam De Koning set for a week of “nerves and fear” as he aims to take down Sydney champion Lance Franklin in what could be a game-shaping match-up in the grand final.
After a quiet qualifying final, Franklin played a key role in getting Sydney past Collingwood by booting two goals in a pulsating preliminary final.
De Koning appears destined to start on the 1047-goal legend, particularly with Swans tall forward Sam Reid (adductor) under an injury cloud.
The revelatory young Cat was out due to concussion when his side lost to the Swans in round 2, when Jack Henry spent the most time on Franklin.
De Koning has generally taken the opposition’s main tall target each week and said he hadn’t yet been told if he will stand Franklin.
“He is just a great all around player and the legend of the game so there’s a lot that I can learn from him, and what I can take from his game, and try and prepare myself the best I can,” he said.
“In saying that (I’m) not sure who my opponent would be this weekend.”
Teammate Mark Blicavs has manned Franklin in years gone by and he backed ”cruisy lad” De Koning to take out the Swans superstar.
“(De Koning) is so calm just talking to him, he loved his surfing and is a bit of a beach goer so he is a cruisy lad,” Blicavs said.
“He has been given the big jobs every week and he absolutely loves it.
“We tell him each week he might be on the best forward and he says ‘it’s fine’.
“I would be very confident in him and he would be very confident in himself.”
While De Koning puts on a brave face, he did admit nerves hit hard when facing a star opponent.
“There’s definitely a little bit of fear, there’s nerves and fear,” he said.
“It’s only my first year (regularly playing AFL) so it’s just the unknown of what they bring and not having played on them before so just doing my preparation, watching the tape and just having a good game plan so that I can attack the game, and try and play my role well for the team.”
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Originally published as ‘Cruisy lad’ Sam De Koning likely set to face Lance Franklin in AFL grand final
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