Sydney Swans forward Lance Franklin says he is feeling good and ready to tackle the upcoming 2022 season.
Entering his 18th pre-season in 2022, Franklin returned to pre-season training early as he joined the Sydney Swans first to four year players for pre-season training a few weeks ago.
While still a few months until the 2022 season kicks off, the experienced forward is excited for the upcoming campaign.
“I’m feeling good. It’s obviously only December and still early and we’ve been going for a little while already but I’m looking forward to a break over Christmas, recharging the batteries and getting ready for next year which will hopefully be an exciting year for the footy club,” Franklin said.
After a strong 2021 campaign and returning to the finals, Franklin said that the young Swans outfit showed plenty of promise and members and fans should be excited for the future.
“You always know that we will always be competitive,” Franklin said.
“Even with a really young team, this year, we were always in the games and never got blown away so you always knew we were going to fight to the death, be competitive and play an exciting brand of football which we did.”
Along with the continual development of the relatively young Swans squad, the forward also had praise for the new draftees who began training with the entire squad after being drafted last month.
They have been well supported by the senior players in the squad and have been impressing early.
“The new draftees are looking really good. They are obviously still in their first few weeks and only young at this stage ,but they are all soaking it up and enjoying it for what it is at the moment,” Franklin said.
“Any first year player that comes in, it’s an exciting time for them and their families and we are very lucky to have them at our club.”
“It’s important to have senior players around a young group, we do have a young footy club, so it’s important to have those senior players around to help support them,” Franklin added.
“We are in a really good position with a heap of young talent coming through but we also have a good blend of senior players who are still playing really good footy.”
With the past two seasons impacted by Covid-19, Franklin is looking forward to returning to playing in front of the club’s members and fans.
With the 2022 fixture announced this week, Franklin has his eyes set on kicking off the year with a big Sydney Derby clash before a home game at the SCG against Geelong in Round 2.
“It’s going to be huge. Playing in front of no crowds this year and last, it just wasn’t the same,” Franklin said.
“We love our fans and we can’t wait to get back to the SCG and put on a show.
“You do long preseasons and work to get yourself in a position to play so we will be excited for the opportunity to play Round 1 and we look forward to playing GWS,” he added when speaking of the season opener.
