AFL: Sydney Swans coach John Longmire reveals cautious approach to superstar forward Lance Franklin

Lance Franklin is on the verge of kicking 1000 career goals, but the Sydney Swans are most interested in keeping him on the field regularly.

Lance Franklin gets involved at Sydney Swans training at Lakeside Oval on Monday. Picture: Getty Images

Sydney won’t overwork prized forward Lance Franklin this pre-season, satisfied with managing him to the round 1 start line.

The 34-year-old megastar is five goals short of reaching 1000 for his career and fresh from a bounce-back campaign in which he was short-listed for the All-Australian team.

Coach John Longmire continues to be peppered with questions about Franklin’s impending milestone but is most concerned with him having another productive season.“

“Hopefully, he’s ready to go and has a good summer – he’s been training really well up until now,” Longmire said.

“We’ve just got to make sure we manage him from here on in; to get him to that round 1 (game) feeling as good as he possibly can.

“Whenever (Franklin’s 1000th goal) happens, it’ll be a wonderful thing for him.

“It’s not the focus of the team at the moment, as you’d imagine, but it’s a wonderful achievement, a personal achievement that I don’t know whether we’ll actually see again in this day and age.”

Franklin was largely written off because of soft-tissue injuries in the seasons leading into this year and critics doubted whether he would even complete his nine-year deal, which expires in 2022.

Instead, the brilliant forward kicked 51 goals in 18 games to be a major reason why the Swans returned to the finals.

Lance Franklin is on the verge of a massive milestone. Picture: Mark Evans/Getty Images

“He’s been working really, really strongly in the off-season, as he did last year,” Longmire said.

“He was rewarded for that work he did in the off-season last year with a solid season this year – and we’re hoping that that’s the case again.

“It’s something that he’ll always have to do and he‘s mindful of that.

“We’re also mindful of making sure we don’t train him too hard at this time of the year. He’s done a lot of miles in the legs over the years.

“He’s looking great at the present time, but he’s not going to do everything. As long as he gets to the line feeling good about himself and he’s done the preparation, we’ll be pleased with that.”

The more senior Sydney players officially started training on Monday, joining their younger teammates, but several of them had already been into the club in recent weeks.

The only Swans not at training this week are the Western Australia crew, including Logan McDonald, Chad Warner, his newly drafted brother Corey and top-20 pick Angus Sheldrick.

McDonald will be eased back to training in January after experiencing shin soreness.

“It would have been great to have them here training,” Longmire said.

“But, obviously, if they had to go back at Christmas, it would have been a bit difficult for them (due to Covid-19-related border restrictions), so they stay there until January.

“It will be good to see those boys in the first week of January.”

Originally published as AFL: Sydney Swans coach John Longmire reveals cautious approach to superstar forward Lance Franklin