John Longmire wants to test Franklin-Tippett double act against Hawks
JOHN Longmire is hopeful of unveiling his glamour forward line of Lance Franklin and Kurt Tippett against Hawthorn on Friday night.
Neither played in the 79-point demolition of the Brisbane Lions on Saturday night, but the Swans coach said both would be in contention for the ANZ blockbuster.
Franklin (knee) limped off against Melbourne last week and missed the Lions match, while Tippett has not played this season after knee and rib problems.
But the former Adelaide powerhouse trained strongly on Saturday and Longmire indicated if he recovered well, was every chance of running out against the Hawks.
"If he (Tippett) gets through a full week of training, he'd put his hand right up there," Longmire said.
"He did a really hard session today and moved really well and wanted to keep on training … that's a good sign for him."
After being unable to train on Thursday, Longmire said they would assess Franklin as the week progressed.
"It'd be good, if Kurt was available, to have him in the team, as well as Lance, so we'll see how those blokes are during the week,” he said.
Against the Lions, the forward line functioned well without the star duo.
Adam Goodes was nimble in his first full match back in 10 months, kicking three goals, while Sam Reid also worked his way into the game after missing a month with an Achilles problem.
Longmire said he was pleased with the way his team ran out the match, a good sign ahead of the date with the Hawks.
"We've certainly started to play a bit better over four quarters, a bit more consistently, that's been the pleasing thing over the past three weeks, which we weren't doing early in the season," he said.
"We come up against one of the sternest tests in the competition next week and that's the reality of what it is, so we'll see how we go against that and I'm sure it'll be a really good test for us."
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