Senior coach John Longmire speaks to the media ahead of a Round 13 clash with St Kilda. The two sides will go head-to-head in the annual Pride Game at the SCG on Thursday night which is also Lance Franklin's 350th game.

On preparing for Round 13

“We’ve had a good week of training and the players are prepared for the Saints. We’re really looking forward to a hit out against a team that are in the top eight and playing really good footy.”

On Buddy’s 350th

“I think for Lance it’s incredible. There’s only 21 odd players that have played 350 AFL games and to get in amongst that crew and be at the very top of the goal kicking tree as well is a special tribute to a great player. We’re looking forward to be part of that celebration tomorrow.

“We’ve got a job to do to play a really competitive brand against St Kilda. There’s no doubt it’s a special day for Lance and to be part of Hawthorn and now with the Sydney Swans and achieve what he’s been able to achieve is fantastic.”

On coaching Lance Franklin

“He’s one of the best key forwards that has played the game. It’s hard to separate who is the best… in the modern era with game style the way it is, it’s so hard to kick goals and him being the absolute stand out during this period makes him quite unique and a player that’s able to break open games. It’s great to be able to coach him...hopefully we get a big crowd to the SCG to watch him play.”

On preparing for the pressure of the milestone

“He’s played some pretty big games over the years. Did you see the 1000 goals here last year – that was a pretty big game. [Franklin] is used to that type of pressure that comes with playing and performing. He’s done it his whole life and the expectations that come alongside that. He’ll be mindful that the most important thing is for us to be competitive in the way we play footy tomorrow night.”

How Franklin’s feeling physically

“Physically he’s ok. It’s just a matter that at 36 years-of-age we would have loved to manage him a bit more - there’s no question about that. But because of the injuries we’ve had to our key position players we’ve been forced to play him a bit more than we planned at the start of the year. Coming off the bye last week hopefully he’s up and feeling good.” 

On the team’s confidence coming off two wins

“We’ve played some good footy at times in the first half of the year, but it hasn’t been at the length of the game we needed. (In Round 11) it was at a consistency level that we like to strive for. That’s our challenge for the backend of the year. That we bring that consistency. Our players believe that, now it’s a matter of going out and actioning it.”

On Nick Blakey’s contract extension

“Nick is one of the key young players in our group. We’ve got a number of young players that we’re confident in to be able to keep this team competitive for a long period of time. It’s great to have a long-term commitment from Nick. He’s a very important player for us now and we think that importance only grows.”

On Dane Rampe

“He’s a key player for us. We haven’t had a lot of players come back from injury for a little while so it’s good to get a key player back. He’s trained really well the last couple weeks. He’s an important competitor, sets high standards and generally makes it tough for the opposition.”

On Joel Amartey's return from injury

“He’s a chance. We’re weighing up his preparation and he’s done a lot of work. He’s been a real pro the way he’s gone about it. We’ll sit down this afternoon and work out what that looks like in the team and what’s best for him for the rest of the season.”

On the importance of tomorrow’s game 

“We don’t spend a lot of time looking at the ladder and never have. It’s more about what we’ve got to do to get our game style right. We look at the process which is the first step. We’ve got to get our contest right, we’ve go to improve our stoppage work and play the ball a bit more in our front half.”

On the mid-season draftees

“They’ve been good. They’ve only trained a couple of times so we only have a glimpse of them but so far they’ve been good."

On Pride Game

“It’s important for us to make everyone comfortable when they come along and watch sport. Whether you’re in the crowd or you’re playing, it’s about making sure you’re comfortable in any space and that’s why it’s important to support an important issue in the community. We feel really proud that we’re able to do that.” 

Witness history as Buddy plays his 350th game at the SCG this Thursday night. Don't miss out - purchase tickets below.