SYDNEY co-captain Luke Parker says the decision on whether Lance Franklin will play in round one will be left up to the man himself.

Following off-season groin surgery Franklin took an extended break and did not play in either JLT Community Series game, but Parker says he's progressing well.

"He's had a pretty heavy workload the last two weeks," Parker said at Captains Day in Melbourne on Friday.

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"If he's right to go for round one and says he's right to go, you've got to trust him.

"He's got enough experience and knows his body and knows if he'll be right to go.

I'm hoping he puts up his hand, because we know what he can do on the field. - Luke Parker

Franklin carried the injury for most of 2018 but still managed to play 19 games and kick 57 goals.

The Swans start their campaign against the Western Bulldogs at Marvel Stadium on March 23.

Aside from the opening round, Parker said a major focus for Sydney this season would be to turn the SCG into "a fortress" again.

Last year they won just five of 12 games, including surprise losses to Gold Coast and North Melbourne and a heavy defeat at the hands of GWS in an elimination final.

"We're a bit unknown about the reason," Parker said.

"Our focus going into this season is we want to turn it into a bit of a fortress and have people come to the SCG and have a little bit of doubt in their mind.

"We're making it a real point to get back to that … we need to turn that around.

"In past seasons we've had such a dominance – it's similar with Geelong, you have to wind yourselves up for a game like that, and when people talk about beating the Swans in Sydney they think there's no better feeling, so I think they probably wind themselves up a bit and find that extra something.

"We've got to make a point to turn that around and put it back in our favour."