Alastair Clarkson: Don’t write off Swans star Lance Franklin just yet

Alastair Clarkson says Lance Franklin’s latest injury is merely a hurdle on the way to a distant finishing line.

Sydney Swans star Lance Franklin. Picture: AAP

Alastair Clarkson has declined to join the code wars — unless not watching the NRL’s return on Thursday night constitutes a shot fired — but is happy to comment on another topic of interest north of the Murray: Lance Franklin’s future.

The AFL’s premier coach says Franklin’s latest injury is merely a hurdle on the way to a distant finishing line.

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Franklin is expected to be sidelined for two months by a hamstring injury, fuelling talk the champion forward may have played his last game given his recent history of soft-tissue problems.

“To be fair, when anyone’s 33 years of age the best of them as a footballer is probably behind rather than in front of them,” Clarkson said on Friday.

“But he’s been such a freakish talent, I wouldn’t write him off by any means.

“I know his resilience. I know his passion for the game. I know him very, very well as a person.

“He’s a long way from finishing up.”

Franklin played under Clarkson in the 2008 and 2013 Hawthorn premiership teams before switching to the Swans in 2014.

“This is just a hurdle he’s got to overcome,” Clarkson said. “He’s had a stellar run. He’s been such a durable bugger for such a long, long period of time at both our clubs.

“He’s just having a tough moment. He’ll overcome that. He’ll get back to playing some footy. He’ll be doing it tough just at the minute, but he’ll find a way and he’ll play some more footy again.”

Clarkson’s push for an extended bench this season might help Franklin play a few games at the tail end of the year.

The Hawks coach supports a watered-down version of the substitute rule for when the season resumes on June 11. He says two extra interchange players could be used, like the maligned sub rule before the idea was scrapped at the end of the 2015 season.

Clarkson said extra players on the bench would also give back-up players a game, given that second-tier competitions have been cancelled this season.

“The coaches fought against the sub for so long,” Clarkson said.

“(But) what I’d love to think could happen is that every club could use a 23rd or a 24th player just to ensure that some of those guys continue to get some form of match practice.

“It might be they only play a quarter. But at least they’re still exposed to the game, they’re still part of the group that’s playing week to week.

“We’d love to think that we could debut some kids and just use him as that sort of sub player.

“It would be good for all sides to use that and have that flexibility.”

Clarkson endorsed Bulldogs coach Luke Beveridge’s decision to bring in more medical personnel now the AFL has relaxed ­restrictions on support staff numbers during games.

Beveridge, asked if he would take the opportunity to bolster his coaching staff, said he would instead increase his “medical and myotherapy” personnel.

“It’s one of the things that’s had to give, the hands-on massage,” Beveridge said. “We’re training hard and the players need to recover, and massage is a critical thing. It’s important that the players have got enough resources to support them.”

Clarkson said the Hawks were yet to decide how to make best use of the allowances for extra match-day staff but said they would probably do something similar to the Bulldogs.

“To their credit the AFL has said we probably cut a little bit too deep and you can have an extra couple of staff,” Clarkson said.

“So we’ll just have to work out how we utilise that.

“Bevo wouldn’t be too far off the mark in terms of making sure that people on the medical side who can support players on game day would be the most important.”

Asked to comment about the Eels/Broncos NRL match on Thursday night, Clarkson said he was embarrassed to admit he didn’t tune in. “I had my head in the sand that much that I didn’t even track it. Who won?”