Franklin battles bruised knee in AFL

Some of Sydney’s biggest names, including $10 million man Lance Franklin, will face fitness tests ahead of Saturday night’s AFL clash with Brisbane.

Franklin has battled a sore knee since round three, and the star forward suffered further bruising in last week’s round-six win over Melbourne at the MCG.

Club physiotherapist Matt Cameron said on Tuesday he was confident the ex-Hawk would be fit to train on Thursday.

“He bruised his knee quite badly in the Melbourne game,” Cameron told the club’s website.

“He landed on it earlier in the game and then in the third quarter as well.

“It’s something that he landed on and bruised about two or three weeks beforehand and it was getting better.

“But by landing on it again he has stirred it up again.

“He’s just working on getting over that and we’re hoping he’ll be able to train on Thursday and will be right to go.”

Fellow key forward Kurt Tippett has resumed running after suffering a cracked rib in a reserves game on April 19.

“We’re hoping he’ll be able to train on Thursday and we’ll make an assessment from there,” Cameron said.

Co-captain Jarrad McVeigh (corked calf) is expected to play on Saturday night at the Gabba, although his training load will be monitored.

“He’s got a cork in his calf, which might mean that he may not be able to train on Thursday,” Cameron said.

“But he should be able to train Friday. He should be okay to play.”

The ninth-placed Swans have a 3-3 record after six rounds, while Brisbane scored their first win of the season in last week’s clash with St Kilda in New Zealand.

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