Port Adelaide great Kane Cornes has suggested the Sydney Swans are a better side without Lance Franklin despite the veteran’s three-goal outing against the Giants.
Franklin and the Swans were stunned at the death by the Giants, who snatched the lead in the final minute through a goal for inspirational skipper Toby Greene.
The 36-year-old Franklin finished with 3.2 for the afternoon to go along with 11 disposals and three marks, but Cornes wasn’t convinced whether the champion goalkicker still remained an overall positive for his side.
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“I reckon it’s one of John Longmire’s biggest challenges – how to deal with the back end of Buddy’s career,” he told Nine’s AFL Sunday Footy Show.
“They have to play him at the moment because of the injuries they’ve got, but I think the stats would show how much more unpredictable they are when he doesn’t play. I think they are a better team right now when he doesn’t play.
“(They went) 20 times inside 50, 13 of them go to Franklin. You want to make sure we celebrate him on the way out.
“He’s going to be a legend in the Australian Football Hall of Fame, but for the now when Sydney’s season is slipping away, I think it’s a big challenge for the coaching structure how they deal with it.”
Essendon champion Matthew Lloyd agreed with Cornes, pointing out an unintended consequence of Franklin being parked up forward for the Swans.
”It’s about John (Longmire) being strong enough to talk to Buddy around, ‘You’re not the player you were, we don’t expect you to be the player you were, but you’ve got to be a part of our system, not the whole system’,” Lloyd told the Sunday Footy Show.
“I think that’s the issue, when they see Buddy, they kick it to him every time and he’s not going to win games like he used to.”
Franklin signed a one-year contract at the end of last 2022 to extend his career into a 19th season. He has kicked 1054 goals in 345 games.
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