The Sydney Swans are preparing to deploy a three-talls forward line centred around Lance Franklin this season in a major reconfiguration of their front half as they look to atone for last year's grand final defeat.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
Franklin will be joined by fit-again duo Kurt Tippett and Sam Reid in the forwards at various stages this year in a three-pronged attack that will produce endless headaches for opposition defensive coaches.
Reid is over the Achilles and calf issues that kept him out of the AFL last year, while Tippett has enjoyed an injury-free pre-season following a 2016 curtailed by a torn hamstring that robbed him of 10 weeks and his devastating early form.
Emerging ruckman Sam Naismith is expected to share big-man duties with 202-centimetre Tippett after a breakout 2016, meaning the latter should be given ample time up forward as a towering target alongside 199-centimetre Franklin and 196-centimetre Reid.
"We will have that look at some stage, all being well and all being fit, which is exciting – we've had a few trainings where we've all been out there together," Tippett said.
"We love playing alongside him [Franklin] and he brings other people into the game and he's really good with his knowledge of the game and helping us and directing us around and leading us as a forward group.
"So far this pre-season I've been playing both roles and splitting my time between forward and ruck so we'll wait and see how that one balances out.
"Sam [Naismith] had a very good end to last year and really carried us in that ruck area and he took over number one spot and did a fantastic job. He's only going to get better with another pre-season under his belt."
Sydney's ruck stocks are bulging despite the trade of Toby Nankervis in October and the retirement of Tom Derickx.
Tippett and Naismith are ably supported by Callum Sinclair, and mature-age draftee Darcy Cameron, who was taken with pick No.48 at the end of last season.
It means coach John Longmire is blessed with numerous possibilities when it comes to rotating his big men through the forward line in 2017, which shapes as a huge year for Tippett.
He was one of the AFL's leading ruckman in 2016 before hurting his hamstring, after which he struggled to regain anything close to his best form.
A fractured jaw in the qualifying final loss to GWS certainly didn't help and he was barely sighted in the decider against the Western Bulldogs.
"I wasn't overly happy with the way the year finished, but you know you do your best with your circumstances," Tippett said. "We weren't good enough as a side to finish off the year on the note we would've liked.
"It's never easy coming back in after extended time off, but you do the best you can, you train really hard in what you're able to do. I was doing lots of conditioning of my legs and trying to stay as fit and in touch as I could over the break.
"You come back and give your best in that sort of situation. I would've liked to have been in better form heading into the finals – I think everyone would've liked that – but that's the cards you're dealt.
"We review it at the time, we go through it, put it to bed at the end of the year and we come in at the start of a new season refreshed and excited about the opportunities that are ahead.
"That's the only way to attack it and, to be honest, we've done it pretty well. So far training's been at a high level and we're certainly putting in the hard work that we need to to give ourselves another opportunity."
