RICHMOND'S chances of knocking off the Sydney Swans and securing a finals berth have been given a boost by Lance Franklin's late withdrawal from Saturday's game at ANZ Stadium.
The Tigers come into the match knowing a victory will secure their place in the top eight and the absence of the Coleman Medal frontrunner will surely aid their cause on a wet day in Sydney.
Franklin has managed ongoing knee soreness throughout the season and, with the Swans assured of a top-two spot, the decision was made to rest the key forward, who has been replaced by Zak Jones.
"With the guys having a six-day break after the match against the Bulldogs on the hard Etihad Stadium deck, they didn't want to take any risks," a Swans spokesman told AFL.com.au.
Tom Mitchell, Jake Lloyd and Shane Biggs will start on the Swans' bench on Saturday.
For Richmond, Reece Conca is the substitute, with Jake Batchelor, Ricky Petterd and Nathan Foley starting off on the bench.
Richmond could still quality for the finals with a loss against the Swans, but would need a series of others results to go its way.
Despite his absence on Saturday, Franklin has virtually wrapped up his third Coleman Medal already.
Franklin has kicked 67 goals in his first season in Sydney, five more than Hawthorn's Jarryd Roughead, who kicked 4.3 in Friday night's big victory over Collingwood.
Port Adelaide's Jay Schulz and Geelong's Tom Hawkins are 11 and 12 goals behind Franklin respectively ahead of their matches this weekend.
Swans ruckman Sam Naismith will make his debut at ANZ Stadium, replacing Mike Pyke, who has an illness.
At 205cm and 104kg, the talented Naismith was selected with the 59th pick in the 2013 Rookie Draft and has battled injuries in his young career to date.
