Swans AFL coach not fussed by quiet Buddy

Lance Franklin's recent lack of impact isn't a major concern for Sydney AFL coach John Longmire.

Lance Franklin of the Swans

Swans forward Lance Franklin is third in the race for the Coleman Medal. (AAP)

Sydney coach John Longmire isn't concerned by the recent lack of impact from his star AFL forward Lance Franklin and has backed him to return to form.

Franklin kicked only one goal in successive weeks against Hawthorn and Geelong and recorded his two lowest possession tallies of the campaign, notching just eight touches in last Friday's win over Geelong.

"(Tom ) Lonergan played well on him last week, you can't escape that, but we're really confident that Lance will continue to play a strong part in the team," Longmire said on Thursday.

"It's not always about kicking goals for him. Certainly when there's other players kicking goals, like there was last week, it helps spread the load.

"Sometimes when he's kicking goals we can be accused of being too Franklin-centric and when he's not kicking goals you can be accused of him not playing well.

"We were happy with our balance last week and we're confident that he'll be playing pretty good footy."

Franklin leads Sydney's goalkickers with 52, with the next best Tom Papley on 25.

Longmire was reluctant to be drawn on the future of former co-captain Jarrad McVeigh, who is coming off contract at the end of the season.

McVeigh, the most senior player on the Swans list with 295 games, had been tipped to retire at season's end after playing just two of their first 13 games due to injuries.

However, the 32-year-old has been in outstanding form in recent weeks, marshalling Sydney's backline.

Longmire said McVeigh's manger Phil Mullen met Swans general manger Tom Harley last week and discussions had been ongoing for around 12 months.

"There's no timeline or anything at the moment, other than just keep talking," Longmire said.

"He has been very good the last couple of weeks and we're really keen for that form to continue."


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Source: AAP


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