SYDNEY superstar Lance Franklin has been ruled out of round one, but highly rated youngster Logan McDonald looms as a potential option after a promising cameo on Sunday.

McDonald booted a long-range goal in the AAMI Community Series loss to GWS and showed enough to suggest he is ready for a senior debut.

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Coach John Longmire has run a line through Franklin – who is still recovering from calf tightness – for the round one clash with Brisbane on March 20.

"Hopefully if he continues the way he's going it will be pretty early but it won't be round one," said Longmire.

"We've got to get him right for the whole season and that means he might not play every game for the whole season.

"That's OK. We'll just work through it."

McDonald, the 18-year-old, 196cm key forward drafted at No.4 by Sydney last year, injected some height and marking power into a relatively small Swans forward line.

"I thought Logan when he started the third (quarter) in particular was very good," Longmire said.

"He came off at one stage and said 'Gee, it's quick' and that's just getting used to the tempo at this level and it goes up another gear in a couple of weeks.

"We've got to understand very young forwards do take a bit of time to get into their body and the feel of the game.

"He got pushed out a few times but he's smart, he works hard, he'll give it everything he's got."

Meanwhile, GWS coach Leon Cameron has likened first-round draftee Tanner Bruhn to star Giant Toby Greene after Bruhn booted four goals against the Swans. 

"He (Bruhn) is really creative," Cameron said. 

"He's probably in that mould, of, I don't want to put too much pressure on him, but Toby Greene started out his career (as) just a ball hunter. They (both) want to get their hands on the footy. 

"Tanner has played a lot of inside mid but also forward in his junior days."

Cameron said off-season forward recruit Jesse Hogan was unlikely to make his debut for the Giants in round one as he battled to recover from quadriceps tightness. 

Hopper and Tim Taranto were strong performers in the GWS engine room and the Giants moved the ball more fluently than they did for much of last season. 

"Clearly we've worked on probably coming through the corridor a little bit more from our back end," Cameron said. 

"At times it worked, at times we turned it over, but we've got to be brave." 

Bruhn apart, Cameron was excited by the efforts of several youngsters, with ruckman Kieren Briggs adding to the competition for that position.