Ready to kick on in finals
Neil Cordy
Daily Telegraph, August 30
LANCE Franklin says he’s a different man to the one who walked away from the Sydney Swans’ finals campaign 12 months ago to deal with mental health issues.
Franklin is fitter, happier and kicking straighter.
He’s also ready to launch Sydney into a historic finals series in which they face cross-town rivals the GWS Giants for the first time in September.
With no Franklin and injuries to Luke Parker and Kieren Jack, the Swans exited the finals in straight sets last year.
“I missed last year’s finals and I get another go at it this year,” Franklin said.
“It’s been a great year and things are going along really well. I’m really excited about playing finals, it’s what we play football for. We’ve given ourselves a second chance by making top four which is a really good effort by the club. We’ve got a massive task against GWS who have played good footy.”
The three-time Coleman Medal winner is also kicking the ball with outstanding accuracy, his 74 goals this season coming at a career best 68.5 per cent conversion rate from set shots.
Buddy and soul: Franklin in great shape for finals push
Andrew Wu
SMH, The Age August 30
Lance Franklin says he is having just as good a year as 2014 when he won the Coleman Medal and spearheaded the Swans’ charge to the grand final.
There had been doubts whether he would remain a major force in the game after missing last year’s finals to focus on his recovery from mental illness, but Franklin’s performances this season have been first-class.
Franklin is back in the conversation when it comes to discussions around the best player in the game even if he fell short of adding a fourth Coleman Medal to his trophy cabinet.
He gained official recognition with nomination in the All-Australian squad on Monday and it would be a surprise if his name was not in the final 22 to be announced on Thursday night.
Franklin’s haul of 74 goals is only five short of his effort of 79 two years ago, which he is set to better in the coming weeks. But he is no longer a stay at home forward and is playing a modified role higher up the ground.
‘‘I’d be on par with 2014, I’ve been more consistent this year,’’ Franklin said on Monday.
Franklin said he feels fitter than two years ago when he had a limited pre-season and battled tendonitis in his knee.
‘‘The first couple of years I’d play and I wasn’t able to train just because I hadn’t done a full preseason – it takes you longer to recover,’’ he said. ‘‘It’s not so much how you run in the game but how you back it up in the Tuesday, Thursday session. That’s where I’ve felt it’s helped me with my form this year because I’ve been able to get out on the track.’’
Swans and Giants both have five in All-Australian squad
Rohan Connolly
SMH, The Age, August 30
The All-Australian team is set for a fresh-faced look with the squad of 40 announced on Monday featuring 24 potential debutants.
Adelaide lead the way with six players while the strong seasons of both Sydney clubs – the Swans and Giants – are reflected in five nominations from either club.
The Crows’ potency up forward and their status as the No. 1 scoring team in the competition has been rewarded, with Eddie Betts (66 goals), Jenkins (60) and Tom Lynch (36) all selected.
The Giants’ stocks of talented running players were obvious in their contingent of five players – small forward Toby Greene, running defender Heath Shaw, and three midfielders in Stephen Coniglio, Tom Scully and skipper Callan Ward.
The Swans were represented by forward Lance Franklin, midfielders Dan Hannebery, Josh Kennedy and Luke Parker and defender/midfielder Dane Rampe
Rubbing in the Lunacy
Richard Hinds
Daily Telegraph, August 30
These are strange days for Australian football’s competing codes.
Yesterday, the Storm held a media session at the Melbourne Cricket Ground. It was a cheeky attempt to emphasise that the iconic venue will be empty on Saturday night when they play for the NRL minor premiership against Cronulla across the footbridge at AAMI Park.
Today, NSW Premier Mike Baird will launch the AFL’s Sydney finals at Luna Park to extol the first Sydney derby final between the Swans and Giants. His theme: we soon won’t have greyhound racing but we own this year’s AFL finals.
As disgruntled Swans fans might point out, using the Harbour Bridge and Opera House as a backdrop for the AFL event is somewhat misleading given the game will be played 26km west at Homebush.
For the Swans, ANZ Stadium has become their Hotel California — twice they have tried to check out.
Before the season they negotiated to play all their home games at the SCG and, just last week, they moved most of their finals to Moore Park.
But the Giants were the single exception. And so even though the Swans have not played a game at Homebush this season, it must seem like they can never leave. Even if the AFL’s reasoning for a one-off return to ANZ Stadium is sound.
With a contract with the stadium still active, as few as 24,000 of the Swans and Giants’ combined 65,000 members would have had access to seats had the game been played at the SCG.
“To lock out a significant number of members including GWS members who have been there since day one just wouldn’t be right,’’ the AFL’s head of scheduling Travis Auld said.
And so ANZ Stadium it is, where a crowd of anything less than 55,000 would be disappointing given the Swans’ large following and the hope the Giants’ first final will inspire more interest in their still AFLresistant backyard.
If the AFL does its job, the game should have more pre-fight promotion than the Rumble in the Jungle. This is precisely the occasion the league had in mind when it started writing the first seven-figure cheques to fund its ambitious expansion.
Franklin finds new Buddy system
Peter Lalor
The Australian, August 30 
Twelve months on from the mental health issues that removed him from the 2015 final series, Buddy Franklin sits in a fan’s seat on the concourse at a sun-soaked SCG and reckons life in Sydney is as good as it’s been since he came here at the start of 2014.
On his ankle a “2 Times” tattoo peeks between shoe and cuff. He’s a bit coy when it’s pointed out. He had it done after the Hawks beat Fremantle in 2013 in his last match with the club.
“I haven’t won one since,” he says. The following year the Swans received a harsh grand final lesson from the Hawks and last year he couldn’t make it to the first round of the finals because of his health.
“That’s what we play football for,” he says of getting another chance. “I missed last year’s finals, getting another go at it this year I am really excited about it.
“We have given ourselves a second chance by getting in the top four which is a really good effort by the club and we have a massive task against GWS, they have obviously had a really good season this year and played some good football throughout. We will have our work cut out to beat them.”
Franklin sounds a bit miffed that a last-minute deal brokered by the AFL means that despite finishing on top of the ladder the Swans will not get to play their match at the SCG and have to travel out to ANZ Stadium.
“It’s definitely going to be different, we haven’t played there for a year, but what can you do about it?” he said. “We can’t do much, it would be lovely to stay at the SCG, but we are going to find ourselves at the ANZ and we just look forward to getting out there, it’s going to be a great contest and it’s a really good opposition.”
While Franklin missed the finals in 2015, he made the 2016 preseason for the first time since coming to Sydney and says he is still benefiting from that extra work and not carrying any soreness.
“I am all good,” he said. “A lot better this year than the last couple of years. This year I was able to do a pre-season, my first couple of years I wasn’t able to train much at all, it was my first full pre-season at the footy club and that’s helped put me in good stead so far.
“In the first couple of years I would play but wouldn’t be able to train because I hadn’t done a preseason, it takes you a bit longer to recover. On the back of having a good pre-season I have been able to back it up and train during the week which helps.
“It’s not so much how you run in the game, it’s how you back it up on a Tuesday, Thursday session, that’s where I’ve felt its helped me with my form.”
