Fremantle coach Justin Longmuir says it will be business as usual for his team this week as Sydney veteran Lance Franklin prepares for a WA swan song on his happy hunting ground.
Perth-born Franklin is almost certain to retire at the end of this season, meaning Saturday night's match at Optus Stadium will be his final AFL outing in the west.
Franklin has scored a whopping 15 goals in his three appearances at the venue.
The 36-year-old booted eight goals in the stadium's AFL debut - against West Coast in 2018 - and he followed it up with six against Fremantle in 2021.
Franklin scored just one major in his most recent visit there - a 17-point win over the Dockers last year - and he'll be aiming to make his WA farewell a memorable one.
Longmuir said Franklin's visit to Perth wouldn't be a big talking point in his camp this week.
"It probably doesn't come into it. Whether it's his last game at Optus or not, we treat him the same way," Longmuir said.
"He's a really important part of their team, they go to him a lot."
Franklin boasts 1063 goals from 352 games, and will go down as one of the greatest players in VFL/AFL history.
But his form has significantly waned this year, with the spearhead booting just 16.12 from 11 games.
Franklin was kept goalless from just four disposals against Alex Pearce when Fremantle beat Sydney by 17 points at the SCG earlier this year.
It's a match-up that is sure to eventuate again this week, especially with the Dockers still missing Brennan Cox (ankle).
"Pearcy played on him last time and did a decent job. I suspect that will be a similar match up," Longmuir said.
"We need to stop the supply and get some pressure on the ball and do the (other) things we need to do to be able to stop good key forwards."
Sydney (7-1-9) kept their faint finals hopes alive with a two-point win over the Western Bulldogs last week, and they've been boosted by the return of Chad Warner and Jake Lloyd.
Fremantle were dealt five injury blows in the wake of last week's 46-point loss to Collingwood.
Ruckman Sean Darcy (ankle), Brandon Walker (knee), Bailey Banfield (lacerated knee), James Aish (quad) and Nathan O'Driscoll (calf) were all ruled out of the Swans clash.
Hayden Young and Michael Frederick return from injury, while star midfielder Caleb Serong is also back after serving his one-match suspension.
Fremantle (7-10) have lost five of their past six contests to crash out of finals contention, marking a significant step back from last year's run to the semi-finals.
Longmuir is urging his side to use the final six matches of the year to "impose their brand" for longer periods of games.
