He’s got that awkward first game against his old club out of the way, now Lance Franklin just wants to rediscover consistency and his best form.
Franklin’s first seven scoring shots in Sydney’s 19-point win over Hawthorn on Friday were behinds, but he kicked two crucial final quarter goals in the ANZ Stadium encounter.
It was surging Sydney’s fourth straight AFL win and moved them to within four points of the Hawks, who led the ladder going into the round.
Tallying 21 touches and seven marks, Franklin certainly made his presence felt in his first match against his former club, despite his inaccuracy through the first three quarters.
He leads Sydney’s goalkicking with 16.15 from seven appearances, though his impact and form has fluctuated from week to week.
“I tried to get out here this week and play a good game,” Franklin said.
“Hopefully I can get my consistency back in my game week to week and get back to my best football.”
Franklin played in a fluid forward structure on Friday, when Kurt Tippett spent most of the same at full forward, kicking four goals in his first game of the season.
“I had a really simple focus of just being really clean and watching the ball right into my hands,” Tippett told Swans TV.
“Because you can have a tendency to come back and be a little bit fumbley, so I was glad that part of my game was pretty sharp.”
Tippett was excited about the potential for the Swans tall forward group, which also includes Sam Reid and Adam Goodes.
“I think it’s something we’re going to continue to get better at as well, working together and hopefully creating some easier chances for each other,” Tippett said.
Sydney coach John Longmire suggested his rotation of the four tall forwards through the game had more to do with their varying levels of match fitness than being a set tactic.
“Goodesy hasn’t played much and Tippo clearly hasn’t played much so it was just trying to make sure we managed that,” Longmire said.
Reid demonstrated his versatility and won praise from Longmire for helping out Tom Derickx in the ruck, notching eight hitouts.
He may have to repeat the effort away to Essendon next Friday, as Longmire wasn’t sure whether regular first-choice ruckman Mike Pyke would recover from the hamstring injury that kept him out of Friday’s game.