AFL superstar Lance Franklin needed just three weeks to revert from out-of-form forward to oh-my-god great.
Franklin sounded an ominous warning to Sydney's rivals on the eve of finals, securing a fourth Coleman medal after booting 10.2 against Carlton.
There were a few party tricks from Franklin, arguably the league's greatest entertainer and most influential player, but his conversion at the SCG was also notable.
Franklin had struggled with accuracy prior to the final round of the regular season, kicking 59.54 before he outscored the Blues with his own boot.
Coupled with uncharacteristically quiet nights in rounds 19 and 20, against Hawthorn and Geelong respectively, it was enough for some to question how the 30-year-old would fight his way out of an apparent funk.
"It does change extraordinarily quickly," Swans coach John Longmire said.
"Two or three weeks ago he was getting bagged because he didn't play that well down at Geelong.
"He'd had a quiet patch. You've got to have belief in your players, particularly the best ones, to strike form.
"Our job as coaches and footy clubs is to not get caught up in the ups and downs ... and understand these things come and go a little bit."
Essendon, who travel to the SCG next week for an elimination final, have consistently struggled to contain Franklin throughout his 856-goal career.
Franklin averages 4.57 goals per game against the Bombers.
This year's round 14 thriller between the sides delivered some respite. Sort of.
Franklin still loomed large as a gamebreaker but he had the yips and finished with just six behinds.
Longmire noted Franklin's sharpshooting wasn't the most impressive aspect of his last-start performance.
"His form was outstanding on the weekend. He looked sharp, he was our highest pressure player in the forward half," he said.
Franklin downplayed his feat on the weekend, imploring teammates to kick on after their barnstorming run from 0-6 battlers to premiership contenders.
"We needed to have a good hard look at ourselves as a team and work on some things at training," Franklin told Fox Footy after his 10-goal haul.
"We need to keep working, that's the thing.
"It's the hard way to do it (winning a premiership from outside he top four), we've got to really work hard."
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