It’ll take a team approach to stop Lance Franklin and the dangerous Sydney Swans forward line on Saturday night, according to defender Daniel Talia.
Franklin has made an ominous start to the 2016 season. He’s currently equal-second in this year’s Coleman Medal race with 12 goals after booting four majors in all of Sydney’s opening three games.
The five-time All Australian has also had 18 possessions and five inside 50ms in every game so far this season.
Talia expects to spend the majority of Saturday’s clash at Adelaide Oval opposed to the former Hawk, but the All Australian backman admits it will take a team effort to quell Franklin’s influence.
“He’s obviously a great player,” Talia said on FIVEaa radio.
“I’m sure I’ll play on him for large parts of the game, but it could be Jake Lever or Kyle Hartigan depending on where he lines up.
“There’s different techniques you can use. I think you’ve got to try and keep him in front of you a bit.
“If he gets in behind you or steps you, you’re in trouble. (You need) a lot of body work off the ball and hope that there’s pressure up the field.
“They’ve got a number of tall forwards down there. We’ll have to be on our game to play really well on the weekend.”
Fellow tall Kurt Tippett has kicked six goals in two weeks and slotted three majors in the Swans’ win over Adelaide in Round 18 last season.
Sydney also boasts several strong-marking midfielders who have hit the scoreboard this year, including Tom Mitchell, Luke Parker and Dan Hannebery.
But Talia praised Adelaide’s own depth at the moment, after late inclusions Jarryd Lyons and Riley Knight were able to perform well against Richmond on short notice.
“JL (Jarryd Lyons) has been waiting to get a game for a long time,” Talia said.
“He’s been in and out and when he has come in, he’s been really stiff to go back out again because he has performed really well.
“We’ve got a lot of depth in the SANFL at the moment and everyone’s playing really well there which (creates) competition for spots.
“JL is a classic example. Someone’s out, he’s back in and he really took his opportunity.”
Hard-working forward Tom Lynch will return to the team after sitting out last week’s win over the Tigers due to the birth of his second child.
But coach Don Pyke could look to Adelaide’s undefeated SANFL team to further bolster his side for Saturday night’s clash with the top-of-the-table Swans.
