Bombers ready for much more than Buddy blitz

Bombers coach Ben Rutten joked that he managed at least one night of unbroken sleep before the AFL Tribunal overturned Lance Franklin’s one-match suspension for elbowing an opponent in the face.

Every Essendon supporter knows the damage Franklin can inflict with the superstar having kicked more goals against the Bombers than any other club in the competition kicking 73 goals in his 17 games against Essendon.

Rutten knows from personal experience too how quickly Franklin can break an opponent’s heart having been in Adelaide’s team when the superstar forward kicked the winning goal in the 2007 elimination final against the Crows.

Lance Franklin.Credit:Getty Images

“I slept a bit better for maybe one night,” Rutten joked.

“It’s good, we want to see our good players playing and ‘Buddy’ is one of those but we are also well aware the Swans are much more than a ‘Buddy’ Franklin team. They have got good some really good depth across their whole field and Buddy gets some reward for that.”

Rutten said either James Stewart or Jayden Laverde will get the big job on Franklin

“Ideally we get one player on him but we know how dynamic Buddy is and if he goes up and plays up the ground more, we might have a bit of different strategy against that but if he’s playing more of a deeper role than I think Jayden Laverde or James Stewart, one of those guys, will probably spend a bit of time on him,” Rutten said.

The coach had a wry smile as he dismissed the suggestion he might have asked Alex Rance - who helped out the Bombers by making a one-off appearance in their VFL team on Sunday - whether he was interested in the job, by any chance.

Franklin leads Sydney’s goalkicking with 39 goals just ahead of Tom Papley on 30 goals and Isaac Heeney - who was best on ground in round 19 - on 28 goals. Franklin needs just 17 goals to reach the 1000-goal milestone.

Rutten said the Bombers were disappointed in their performance after half-time against the Giants indicating he felt their form had been below par in the past few weeks as they hit the road to play in Queensland.

Rutten said Sydney’s recent form made playing them one of football’s biggest challenges.

“They are pretty well rounded across the board. They have some really athletic good ball users down back. They have still still got enough really strong competitive guys inside with [Luke] Parker, [Josh] Kennedy and [George] Hewett. They have got a really well balanced side at the moment that seem to be gelling well,” Rutten said.

“It’s a really good opportunity coming up against those guys.”

Rutten said the Bombers played well against Sydney in round four when they lost by three behinds and they hoped for another good contest.

Meanwhile Geelong will wait to see if Joel Selwood’s corked quad recovers in time for their match against North Melbourne in Hobart. They have ruled out Gryan Miers who suffered another fracture to his leg against Richmond.

Shaun Higgins is available and coach Chris Scott said Sam Simpson - who played in last year’s grand final - was back in the selection mix after battling injury all season.

Peter Ryan is a sports reporter with The Age covering AFL, horse racing and other sports.

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