LANCE Franklin showed he is closing in on his best form ahead of round one but Sydney Swans coach John Longmire ominously says the superstar forward is still yet to reach his peak.
Franklin was outstanding against in the Swans' 22-point NAB Challenge win over the Blues on Friday night, putting in easily the finest performance of his pre-season campaign.
He booted three goals, helped himself to 20 disposals and dished out five goal assists for good measure.
His work rate and defensive efforts were also top-notch.
Click here for full match coverage and stats
"He certainly played a pretty good game tonight," Longmire said.
"He's had a good pre-season. He ran well. There were a couple of marks he missed, and he could've had an even bigger night.
"I thought the signs with him he looked pretty good. He'll get better, I've got no doubt."
Inevitably there has been much attention on the 29-year-old after he was ruled out of his team's 2015 finals campaign because of his battle with mental health issues.
But Longmire said he could not have asked for much more of his superstar forward since he returned to the club in November last year.
"We've seen him train over the pre-season and he's been terrific. He's been up and full of energy and training really well in the match simulation games," Longmire said.
"He's done everything. He's done much more than he's ever done."
Franklin spent nearly 90 per cent of the game up forward and Longmire said he would only venture into the midfield in a break glass in case of emergency type basis.
"We've had a couple of discussions about it as coaches and I always put the opposition coach's hat on, 'Where would you like him? Probably out of the forward 50.'
"He went in for three centre bounces out of about 28 (last week against Greater Western Sydney). He'll still go in occasionally for some centre bounces, we think that's a good thing.
"He won't be in there most of the time. Most of the time he's going to be a forward. That's where he plays his best and that's where we need him to play."
The Swans trialled a number of players in different positions against the Blues as they search for replacements for Jarrad McVeigh (knee) and Gary Rohan (hamstring) in defence.
Kieren Jack spent some time at half-back, while youngsters Zak Jones, Callum Mills and Nic Newman also had opportunities to cement their place in the side.
"The reality is that we had McVeigh penciled in there (at half-back)," Longmire said.
"Gary Rohan was going to play half-back.
"We've got a few there they're just not playing at the moment and hopefully they're not too far away.
"We thought Jonesey showed good composure and we thought Kieren looked OK at half-back at times tonight.
"We've got different options we think can go through there."
Star midfielder Luke Parker spent a fair portion of the match in the forward line as the Swans search for other avenues to goal aside from Franklin.
"He's a very good mark for his size and he's a good target. That might evolve that way where Tommy Mitchell will spend a bit more time in the midfield and Parker more time forward," Longmire said.
Star midfielder Josh Kennedy dislocated his finger, but should have no issues getting up for round one. Zak Jones has been cleared of any structural damage to his knee but will monitored during the week. Jack was also nursing sore ribs but managed to run out the game without any further problems.
Veteran defender Ted Richards will most likely play a half for the Swans' reserves team next weekend as he attempts to prove that he is over his calf issue before round one.
Sam Reid (hamstring) should be available for the season opener against Collingwood on March 26, but McVeigh, Rohan and Ben McGlynn (calf) have all been ruled out.
