Speaking at Friday morning’s training session at Lakeside Oval, McVeigh said Franklin, who arrived at the club last October after nine seasons with Hawthorn, had already been a strong contributor at the Swans’ team meetings this pre-season.
“He’s been fantastic,” McVeigh said.
“He’s offering good opinions about the things he’s seen at Hawthorn, because they’re the best team at the moment, and he has been sharing a few things they do, which we can bring into our training and into our games.
“He’s made contributions about the way the game is being played because Hawthorn has been at the forefront of the competition for a number of years.”
McVeigh said the dual Coleman medallist was fitting in well at the club and was forming good relationships with the playing group.
“He hasn’t been out there too much because he’s had a later start than everyone because he played in the grand final, but he’s progressing well and he’ll be back in skills in the next few weeks,” he said.
“He trains hard and that’s all we ask of him.”
In positive news for the club, dual Brownlow medallist Adam Goodes also appears to be making strong ground in his rehabilitation from a knee injury.
McVeigh said Goodes, who continued his running program at Lakeside Oval today alongside Lewis Roberts-Thomson and Mike Pyke, was well on track to join the main group in the coming weeks.
“He’s flying at the moment,” he said.
“We’ve got a camp in a few weeks and I think he’ll be coming back then, so he’s going quite well at the moment.
“Being 34 it takes a bit longer but he doesn’t do much pre-season anyway because he is so skilful and he knows how the game is played.
“I can’t wait to see him back out on the field.”
McVeigh added that Rhyce Shaw and Alex Johnson, who both underwent LARS reconstructive surgery during the 2013 season, were continuing to improve.
“Shawy did the first few drills today and he’s trained before and Johno (Alex Johnson) is a little bit behind, but they’ll be working hard to come back in,” he said.
“They’ll take their time and they’ll be getting ready for the season and we’ll see when that is.
“I’m not too sure when they’ll play, but they’re on track.”
