LANCE Franklin was always going to be the star of the show, even when slotting back into a side that had just demolished a preliminary finalist in the season-opener.

But internally, the Swans weren’t as confident that the superstar forward would be able to live up to his usual top-billing in his first game in 581 days.

"Our expectations were very low today, with Lance," Sydney coach John Longmire said. 

"We just wanted him to come back in and play a role and hopefully things work out for you. 

"But he’s not a bad player, and the good thing is that he feels good now [after the match]." 

While the Swans sometimes appeared to resort to being a bit too Buddy-conscious, Longmire was happy with the balance of balls going to Franklin and his fellow forward targets.

"The big fella comes out, he stretches his arm out, and if you’re a young bloke and you’re looking there, he tends to draw your attention," he said.

"He’s not always the best option, but that’s OK. They haven’t trained with him a lot, or played with him a lot, so we’ll work through that."

Despite Franklin’s own high standards, Longmire was happy with his performance.

“I thought he actually looked pretty good, he is pretty hard on himself and sets high standards.”

“He looked as though he moved quite well, he has done the work, but we need to keep doing the work with him too. Its only one game so we need to keep the strength up with him through his legs and core and keep being diligent with that.”

Franklin lined up on Jordon Butts for much of the match, and although the superstar forward finished with three goals, the four-game defender was competitive and spoiled well throughout.

When Franklin did get away from Butts, it was usually on the end of stunning Swans transitions, especially when they looked to move the ball quickly through the corridor.

"No doubt the man on the mark [rule] has made the difference," Franklin told Fox Footy after the match. 

"The leading forward is back, that’s for sure."