The sequel almost certainly won’t be as good as the original, but Sydney forward Lance Franklin will have plenty of fond memories when he makes his long-awaited return to Optus Stadium on Saturday night.
Franklin was the star attraction in his first look at Optus Stadium in 2018, with the spearhead booting a remarkable eight goals from 21 disposals to lead Sydney to a 29-point win over West Coast.
A month later Franklin was sidelined for three weeks with a heel injury that coach John Longmire attributed to the hard surface of the $1.2 billion Perth stadium.
The venue’s turf was placed in the spotlight over the next 18 months, with Eagles coach Adam Simpson leading the chorus for it to become softer.
Simpson is now happy with the state of the ground, and Franklin will make his second appearance there when Sydney face Fremantle.
The Dockers are still missing their two best key defenders in Joel Hamling and Alex Pearce, meaning either Brennan Cox or Griffin Logue will be given the job on Franklin.
“He’s obviously a great of the game. He’s one of the best players that I’ve seen,” Longmuir said.
“It’s really about playing to our system down there and making sure we gel as a group. It’s a team effort.
“If we let the ball get in too quick, no team will have anyone to defend him.
“We need to make sure we defend up the ground, get good pressure on the ball, and defend him as hard as we can.”
The Dockers (4-5) were dealt a huge blow when star midfielder Andrew Brayshaw was ruled out with a calf injury.
But the return of All-Australian defender Luke Ryan from his own calf injury is a timely boost for the back six.
Sixth-placed Sydney (6-3) made just one change, recalling Dylan Stephens in place of Justin McInerney (managed).
Rain has been forecast for Saturday’s match, but Longmuir said it won’t dramatically change the way his team play.
“Maybe it affects how many handballs you have, we might need to get it onto the boot quicker,” he said.
“But sometimes you can go too far the other way as well and try to change your whole game because of wet conditions, and you miss opportunities that could present.
“We got the wet balls out earlier in the year (at training) because it was going to be torrential rain, and then we got to game day and it was dry as a chip.
“So we’ve just got to be careful we don’t sell that to our players too early in the week.”
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Roar Guru
Who could also forget the few occasions when Adam McPhee (Essendon) used to match up on Nick Riewoldt (St Kilda) and Nathan D Brown (Melbourne) got the occasional match-up on Nathan G Brown (Richmond)? In the case of McPhee and Riewoldt, they appeared identical.
Macca
Roar Rookie
Remember back in round 2 when North were being pilloried for taking then yet to debut Phillips instead of one hand on the Rising Star McDonald?
.kraM
Roar Rookie
Longmire vs Longmuir. Almost as good as Saints Bombers clash with Ratten vs Rutten.
.kraM
Roar Rookie
Hayden McLean being in great form has also contributed. Great for Sydney, let him develop and we still have Sam Reid to come back. Plenty of options.
okapiman
Roar Rookie
On Lance never write off a champion. On Logan he was cooked on about his third game... he is longer-term... they should have made him sub this week so could catch up with family.
pablocruz
Roar Rookie
Will only take 5 minutes for Buddy to ice this game at some point. The sooner the better to put Freo's fans out of their misery.
Stirling Coates
Editor
He'd had a few quiet ones before going back to the ressies. No goals and only two kicks in back-to-back games. He'll come good.
Don Freo
Roar Rookie
Cameos only from Lance now. Griff will have that under control. I wonder why Horse has stopped playing Logan McDonald. He started so well and was dropped while still playing well and hasn't returned.