HE'S BACK in form and Lance Franklin looks set to back up from the long trip west and one of his best games of the season when Sydney takes on Essendon at Marvel Stadium on Saturday night.

As the Swans look for a third win in a row to keep their finals hopes alive, the fourth highest goalkicker of all time is finding his groove in 2023, as is his team.

Franklin kicked three goals against Fremantle on Saturday night along with nine score involvements and three contested marks, playing through the discomfort of a knock to his knee early in the game.

With that in mind, the 36-year old's ability to get on the track after the long journey from the other side of the country has certainly pleased his coach.

"He actually trained today and trained pretty well, that's always a good sign. We'll see how he pulls up from that," John Longmire said.

"If he's feeling fresh and ready to go going into games, like he has the last few weeks, that's a good sign for him."

Having managed just seven goals in his first six games of the season, Franklin now has nine from his past four ahead of the clash with Essendon, against whom he's averaged almost four goals a game across his decorated career, his best record against any club.

While Franklin's form is lifting at the back end of the year, his coach refused to entertain any discussion of that leading to him going around again in 2024.

"We'll just see how he goes this week," Longmire joked.

"He's very much session by session and see how he feels. If you asked him a month ago, he was pretty sore. He's very much looking to feel good session to session and going into games feeling well.

"That's all that matters at the moment for him."

The Swans coach also refused to discuss the strong talk that reigning West Coast best and fairest winner Tom Barrass will be traded to the Swans next season, as Sydney looks to beef up its key back stocks.

"I don't say much if anything at all, particularly contracted players at other clubs so I'll stay away from that," he said.

"I stay out of the list management discussions publicly because there's so much that changes, it evolves quickly. So nothing from my end on that."

The subject of co-captain Callum Mills' 150th game on Saturday night was one that Longmire was more than happy to open up about, with the All-Australian and best and fairest winner from last year starting to find his best form after positional changes and injury issues for large parts of the season.

"At 16 years of age I remember him coming into our office and asking questions about our game plan. He walked out and I walked into Tom Harley's office and said, 'That kid will captain the footy club at some stage'. He just had it written all over him," Longmire said.

"He’s just a really important cog to our football in a whole heap of ways."

Mills' ability to play a range of different roles has always been a luxury for Longmire and with the elevation of Errol Gulden this year as an elite option on the ball as well as on the wing or half-forward, that has enhanced the ability to play Mills where the coaching staff believes he fits best, week to week.

Gulden, who is second in the competition for inside 50's, is on track for an All-Australian blazer in just his third year and while his skill on the outside has been apparent from his first few games, his ball-winning nous has shone in a spectacular 2023 campaign.

"You know he's a real competitor. He just goes so hard at it. Those guys just a find a way. We thought he was half-forward/wing this year, but we've thrown him inside and he's done really well," Longmire said.

"He values defence and contested footy. As a third-year player, there's not much more you want. He's going really well," Longmire said.

The midfield depth at the Swans when everyone is fit has never been in question, but the player entrusted with knocking the ball down to them has been up in the air for the best part of two years.

With no VFL game last week, Tom Hickey and Peter Ladhams didn't have the chance to push their claims for a recall, meaning Hayden McLean looks set to hold onto the ruck duties for the Bombers clash.

"He's a little bit undersized but he competes well, he's predictable, he gets to the right spots when he needs to. Our midfielders are starting to get a lot of confidence in that," Longmire said of McLean.

"We've still got a couple rucks (Hickey and Ladhams) that we can bring in if we need to but we were happy with how he went (against Fremantle)."

A win against Essendon on Saturday night will ramp up talk of a Swans surge to September after they won nine games straight at the end of last year to make the Grand Final.

"What we do know is if we play good footy and are consistent at it for four quarters, we give ourselves a real chance. We've got good belief in that but we still have to actually do it," Longmire said.

"Just because we've done it once (last season) it doesn't mean it's going to happen. You've got to earn that right and go out and do it week in, week out."