Good evening everyone, it's Thursday night and that means it's time for another instalment of your favourite Swans preview show, the SwansCast Extra!
The team announcement was made at 6.10pm and it would be the understatement of the year to saw that the Swans faithful were surprised.
Flabbergasted would be more appropriate, for they were well and truly trolled by a master. Rick Rolling doesn't even do this justice, it's high calibre, top shelf stuff from Longmire.
If you don't know, he recalled Franklin to the side, having categorically ruled him out of the side on Monday, indicating he was still three weeks away from senior football.
It was a carefully crafted troll one would suspect, the club surprised at his rabid recovery and application of miracle juice bought from a street vendor. The vendor's horse dragging his carriage around town, hollering with a bell tolling in hand, about the new miracle drug.
Well it worked, although it really does raise more questions than it answers about the Swans medical team, as they seem completely out of tune with the football department, or anyone else for that matter.
They've incorrectly diagnosed injuries, incorrectly treated them and now, incorrectly predicted return dates. Thinking of all this makes my poor brain hurt. I have to save a few brain cells for my day-to-day stuff, it's what keeps the lights on after all.
Dean Towers and Dan Robinson failed to survive the cull, with neither a great surprise. Robinson was always first on the chopping block, despite a good performance against Hawthorn, while Towers has really struggled since returning from an eye injury.
Maybe he's battling through a confidence lull, but he was truly shocking at times in the last two matches. He went at 50% against North with his only efficient disposals resulting in score involvements, while he was equally poor against Hawthorn.
As always, with injuries comes opportunities. McCartin and Ronke have grasped it by the horns and refuse to let go. McCartin really has a chance to establish himself in Reid's absence while Ronke is going nowhere. Only injury excludes him from the team. I spoke of a Papley-like debut required from the rookie before his Geelong debut, and he hasn't disappointed.
Fremantle have their own injury issues to worry about with Nat Fyfe under a cloud, despite regaining two top tier players for the clash. Either way, it's going to be a huge match.
The Swans home ground form hasn't been great all season and it wasn't great last year as well. They've won just 9-from-16 at the SCG since Round 1 last year, and will need to turn that form around quick smart if they're going to be a genuine threat this year.
Percentage is an issue, but as long as they keep winning, they'll give themselves every chance. First and second have lost just the one game, while the next six sit on five wins. It's anyone's game at this point and the difference between middle of the pack and behind it, is a win. Swans have to win, simple.
In tonight's show, I'm joined by SwansCast regular, Heather Quinlan. We preview the Swans match against the Dockers, chat about Hannebery and Franklin, what we're looking forward to, match-ups, key points, team changes, give our predictions and the weekend forecast.
It’s another great episode, so give it a listen, send us feedback, and if you love it, chuck us a review on Facebook or Whooskaa, our podcast platform.
Enjoy the week and the episode! As always, hit us up on social media using the tag @theswansblog, or the hash tag #SwansCast and #SwansCastExtra.
Download - Whooshkaa - iTunes - RSS - YouTube
Got a question, a comment? You can send us an email anytime throughout the week to swanscast@theswansblog.com, or drop us a line on Twitter, Facebook or Instagram using the hashtag #SwansCast.
Liked the show? If you would be so kind as to leave us a review or rating on iTunes, or subscribe, it would be greatly appreciated!
Enjoy the podcast and more to come this weekend.
Like what you’re getting? Want more Swans Blog, and the chance to have your input into our site and what we create? We have additional content weekly on our Patreon Service. This is your avenue, what are you waiting for? Sign up today and get more content like this.
If you'd like to support us, you can head over to our Red Bubble Swans Blog Shop, and purchase one of our hideously overpriced mugs, stickers or notebooks. Help keep The Swans Blog alive.
Want instant access to the latest blog and news content from The Swans Blog?
Download our Android App from Google Play today.