- Video
-
Club Roar
Captured a great grassroots sporting moment? We want to see it!Content Collections
The Roar Community
- Join
- Login
Sydney’s superstar forward Lance Franklin has stressed the necessity for his club to generate momentum as the Swans seek redemption after being dragged back into the AFL pack.
The Swans are welcoming a six-day turnaround and Friday’s testing challenge at Geelong, after a four-point home loss to the Western Bulldogs.
Two losses in their last three games have left Sydney in a claustrophobic gaggle of six teams on 40 points occupying second to seventh spots.
“You can’t afford to lose a game, every team is in it,” Franklin said on Monday at the launch of the club’s Reconciliation Action Plan.
“It’s really tight up at the top so you just want to keep winning and get that momentum going.
“We’ve got Geelong on Friday night, so we’ll have to move on pretty quick and get prepared for them.”
A trip to Simonds Stadium where visiting teams rarely win looms as a daunting proposition especially after a short turnaround, but not to the Swans.
“The way footy is now, especially after losses, I think the short days are going to do us wonders,” defender Dane Rampe said.
“You just want to go out there and redeem yourself and I think that’s the way we’re looking at it.
“I’m sure I speak for the rest of the players. We just can’t wait to get out there and get back on the winners list.”
For Sydney Saturday’s loss was the second time this season after a game against Richmond they have conceded a match-turning goal right at the end.
“After the game as a playing group we all knew walking off the ground we’d stuffed up structurally,” Rampe said.
“You can look at it one of two ways, we’re going to look at the glass half full approach.
“You learn from these mistakes and I guarantee that next time that situation, or at least I hope so, that we won’t be doing the same thing.
“There were little areas that we probably just fell down in and that was probably like the Richmond game, which we lost to a shot after the siren, which is quite similar.
“They are the areas we’ve got to improve and we’re going to learn from them, it’s better it happens now rather than in the finals.”
Rampe and Franklin are the playing members of the club’s RAP committee.
Describing himself as a proud indigenous man, Franklin twice apologised for cutting sentences short after addressing a large crowd at the NAIDOC week celebrations in Sydney’s Hyde Park.
Franklin, who didn’t play in the finals last year after it was revealed he was suffering from a mental health issue, later assured the media he was fine.
“I just got stuck on my words,” Franklin said,
Who’s in your ultimate team? Pick the best team and compete with other fans for daily prizes on Draftstars. For the best odds on the game try out Aussie bookmaker PlayUp. Think. Is this a bet you really want to place? Set a deposit limit.