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Buddy ruled out of North Melbourne clash

Lance Franklin and the Swans are at the wrong end of the ladder. (AAP Image/Julian Smith)
30th April, 2018
5

Sydney stars Lance Franklin and Dan Hannebery have been ruled out of the Swans’ AFL clash against North Melbourne at the SCG.

Sydney coach John Longmire confirmed the pair would miss Saturday night’s match as they continue to recover from heel and groin injuries respectively.

Franklin has been struggling for the past month with a bruised heel which sidelined him for the Swans’ 17-point victory over Geelong at Kardinia Park on Saturday.

The 31-year-old sustained the injury against West Coast in round one on the firm surface at Optus Stadium that has since come in for some pointed criticism.

“They are both not going to be playing this week,” Longmire told Seven Network’s Talking Footy on Monday night.

“This afternoon the medical guys ruled them both out so they are not playing this week.

“Hannebery has a slight tear in his groin so he missed last week, will miss this week and we will see what he is like next week.”

Franklin has been heavily restricted at training, although he was able to get through several games.

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Longmire is wary of putting too much strain on the forward’s body and foreshadowed the move to rest him again when he spoke on Melbourne radio earlier on Monday.

“We don’t want to get in the cycle of playing him every week and not being able to train him, which was the cycle we were in from round one,” Longmire told SEN Radio.

“So we’re conscious of that, we’re conscious of making sure it doesn’t put pressure on other parts of his body and we’d like him obviously to get right.”

Sydney bounced back in style from a disappointing loss to Adelaide with a seven-goal final-quarter blitz against Geelong led by skipper Josh Kennedy.

Longmire praised his side’s resilience but said the seventh-placed Swans still had another gear to go to.

“We’re not absolutely flying but we’re in there,” he said.

“We’ve shown a capacity to be able to find a way to win at times, which has been important.”

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