Sydney Swans premiership defender Richards has revealed he and former Hawk Franklin – who regularly opposed each other, most notably in the 2012 Grand Final – have socialised several times since Franklin joined the Swans on an unprecedented nine-year, $10 million contract.

 

When the controversial deal was completed, Franklin sent his old sparring partner a text message and their relationship has strengthened since.

 

Richards believes Franklin – who on Monday completed his first full pre-season session with his new club after rarely being out of the media spotlight during the off-season – is a good fit for the Swans.

 

"It’s great, we’ve got a great mix of new players and we’ve got 'Buddy' Franklin, who I’ve had a close on-field relationship with over the years," Richards told SwansTV.

 

“I caught up with him a couple of times away from the club and I think he’s come with a great attitude and is really embracing the team.”

 

Richards expects that he and his fellow Swans defenders will reap enormous benefits from matching themselves against not only Franklin, but last year's boom recruit Kurt Tippett, veteran Adam Goodes and the developing Sam Reid.

 

"I’ve been able to see firsthand what (Franklin is) capable of and I think it’s going to be good to be able to have a pre-season where I’ll be playing on him," he said.

 

"I’ll be constantly testing myself with one of the best in the competition every training session, along with Kurt Tippett, Adam Goodes and all the other good forwards that we have."

 

Richards, 30, says he has returned from a 10-week off-season break in good shape to attack his 14th AFL pre-season.

 

He said his hopes for "a slow, soft transition" into training were dashed when the Swans were "whacked right in the face with a big program as usual” with a 3km time trial around Lakeside Oval followed by repetition running.

 

“It sounds stupid because it’s just three k's, but for one reason or another there is so much importance put on it," he said.

 

“(The coaches) can check on how you’ve gone according to previous years so they can really monitor how you’ve come back individually relative to how you’ve come back in previous years, but also how you’ve come back according to everyone else in the group.”

 

Dan Hannebery won the time trial, followed by Craig Bird, rookie Lloyd Perris and Ben McGlynn.