AFL Round 2 teams news: Sydney Swans confirm Lance Franklin return

As some questioned whether he would ever play again, Lance Franklin was working to prove the doubters wrong. John Longmire provides an insight into his return.

Lance Franklin has come through his first competitive match in more than 18 months unscathed.

John Longmire says Lance Franklin’s AFL return is reward for his sacrifice to stay in the Swans’ hub while injured and giving up his summer to regain trust in his battered body.

Franklin’s 2020 season was shut down in August as a combination of hamstring, calf and groin issues stopped him from playing a game.

Longmire knows Franklin’s reluctance to speak in the media adds a mystique about his famous star but says the sacrifices he made were immense.

OPERATION REBUILD: INSIDE STORY OF BUDDY’S RETURN

“He has been fantastic for us, the impact he has on the ground has been significant,” Longmire said.

“Last year was an indicator. He goes into the hub the whole time, he has just had a baby (daughter Tallulah, born in February), (wife) Jess had another on the way, he can’t play, he is still invested, forms great relationships with kids and young fellas. Then we came back to Sydney and he didn’t go away anywhere, works through the off-season, works through Christmas, so in the end he’s got a lot to give.

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“His gym work and strength work and the markers he has to meet now are really important and that determines the steps in his process. It’s not a matter of, ‘How are you feeling Buddy? Get out and train.’

“He has a rigorous process to follow before and after training sessions, he’s been diligent at it. He was in the hub the whole time doing really strong gym work four times a week and that process has been going a long time.

“It’s not just the last few weeks, he’s got to a stage where he can’t do any more.

“He is an unbelievable talent but he’s 34 and hasn’t played for a while. What I know is he is a competitor and a natural talent and he will find a way.”

Longmire also revealed the Sydney rain that has flooded parts of NSW this week nearly saw Franklin’s AFL return postponed after fears his VFL return would be abandoned.

Longmire jumped on the first plane on Sunday morning after the victory against Brisbane to watch the VFL clash which was a critical part of Franklin’s AFL return.

But as Longmire revealed this week, the Swans had genuine fears the flooding that hit Sydney could wash out the ground for the clash against GWS.

Lance Franklin will make his long-awaited return this weekend.

The Swans might still have played Franklin against Adelaide at the SCG clash but discussed contingency plans last Saturday night.

It came as Longmire pledged the club would never again play Franklin half-fit or without ticking off key strength and conditioning measures to protect his body.

“We finished up late Saturday night (beating Brisbane) and got an early flight back to Sydney and we were unsure what had happened with the rain, how the reserves would go, could it be played or not?” he said.

“But as soon as I landed (VFL coach) Jeremy Laidler said the ground was in good nick so I jumped in the car and headed straight out there.

“It went as we thought it would. He has done a power of work.”

Asked if a washed-out game would have delayed his return, Longmire replied: “Maybe, we don’t know. We had a chat about it Saturday night, but we were still confident in the body of work he had done. He has done the strength work, the high-speed running, the repeat efforts, all those markers on his GPS that are crucial to seeing how he is going, they had all been hit. It wasn’t going to be the ultimate decider.”

CLARKO MOVE WHICH KICKSTARTED BUDDY HAWKS EXIT

Rebecca Williams

Lance Franklin decided to leave Hawthorn after coach Alastair Clarkson flew to America during the off-season holiday period to question the superstar forward about his future, according to premiership teammate Jordan Lewis.

Lewis described Clarkson’s visit as “poor timing” and suggested it had intruded on Franklin’s “space”.

As Franklin prepares to make his long-awaited return from injury for Sydney this weekend, Lewis suggested the goalkicking ace did not have “too many thoughts” about leaving the Hawks before the overseas meeting with Clarkson in the 2012 off-season.

After nine seasons and two premierships at Hawthorn, Franklin left the Hawks at the end of 2013 to join the Swans on a mega-deal.

Alastair Clarkson and Lance Franklin catch up during the 2017 season. Picture: Michael Willson/AFL Media/Getty Images

Lewis said the unexpected meeting with Clarkson had not “sat well” with Franklin.

“He didn’t have too many thoughts (about leaving) before that meeting, I can certainly say that,” Lewis said on SEN.

“Then when Clarko decided to go over and basically say ‘Where do you sit in your career, where do you sit at Hawthorn? We want you to sign’, all that type of stuff, I don’t think that sat well with him.”

Asked if Franklin considered Clarkson’s US visit an invasion of privacy, Lewis said “yeah, I think so”.

“I think when you’re on your off-season holiday, you are over in the States or Europe or wherever it might be, you are entitled to some space or some time to think about the season that had just been, the season ahead,” Lewis said.

“I thought that was probably poor timing.”

Clarkson with Franklin and Jarryd Roughead following the 2004 draft.

Franklin is set to play his first game since the end of 2019 when he lines up against the Adelaide Crows at the SCG on Saturday.

Lewis said he felt Franklin’s time at Hawthorn could have been handled with “more balance”.

“Part of the reason why he left in the end … we had an environment where it was OK to showcase your skills on a weekend,” Lewis said.

“But what you did off the field had to be within the lines of what was required from the Hawthorn point of view.

“Bud would come out with crazy hairstyles and just be a player that wanted to be himself and that at times didn’t sit well with Clarko.

“Looking back now, I can see both sides of it certainly, but over time I think that control wears you down and that would have been part of the reason why he left.”

THE BIG BUDDY TEMPTATION SWANS MUST RESIST

– Marc McGowan, Jon Ralph

Superstar forward Lance Franklin will make his long-awaited return for Sydney against fellow first-up winner Adelaide on Saturday.

Swans coach John Longmire revealed on Monday that Franklin would play his first AFL match in 19 months this weekend after various injury setbacks sidelined him for all of last year.

The 34-year-old still has two seasons to run on his nine-year, $10 million megadeal and will look to prove wrong the many critics who wrote him off.

“We expect him to play this week, so it’ll be good to get him back in the team,” Longmire said.

“He’s done a lot of work since, really, August last year, when we couldn’t get him back in to play.

“He’s done a lot of strength work and been training for quite a while now.”

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Lance Franklin will make his long-awaited AFL return against Adelaide on Saturday.

Franklin trained through Christmas – dedicating himself to strengthening his groin, hamstring and adductor muscles – before experiencing calf tightness in late January, which dashed his Round 1 hopes.

All Sydney’s messaging at the time was that the latest issue was minor and would set him back only about a week, and he resumed full training with the main group weeks ago.

Franklin took a major step on Sunday towards his AFL comeback, playing half a game for Sydney’s reserves in a low-key practice match hitout with Greater Western Sydney.

He moved well in that game and Longmire confirmed he had pulled up fine.

Franklin missed 26 of the Swans’ past 27 matches, but will return to a senior side brimming with youth and confidence, after stunning flag fancy Brisbane by 31 points at the Gabba on Saturday night.

John Longmire will be very happy with how his Swans have started the season. Picture: Jono Searle/AFL Photos/via Getty Images

The 300-gamer will have a normal training week leading into the Crows clash, but Longmire said no decision had been made on a game minutes limit for him.

What Longmire is certain of is that Franklin won’t play every match for the rest of the season.

“We need to make sure we don’t get into the habit of just playing him every week, he recovers, doesn’t train, doesn’t do his strength work he needs to do, which is really important, then he plays again on the weekend,” the coach said.

“We need to make sure we keep that work into him during the week in the gym, all the physio work and training to be able to get him through the season.

“Clearly, that means not playing him every week.”

Longmire added that there wasn’t a specific plan on which matches Franklin would rest from, but that they wouldn’t deviate, even if he was playing and feeling well.

“He’s a competitor, he loves to get out there and compete, and when it’s taken away from you, like it’s been with Lance, he’s clearly been frustrated,” he said.

“But he’s directed that level of frustration into his rehab program and has been working really diligently and a long time at it … and he’s given himself every chance.”

Franklin’s torrid injury run in recent years includes a bruised heel, serious hamstring setbacks on both legs, a knee arthroscope and groin problem.

The four-time Coleman medallist is only 56 goals short of reaching 1000 for his career.

Originally published as AFL Round 2 teams news: Sydney Swans confirm Lance Franklin return