It’s not often you hear a defender say they “love” playing on Sydney superstar Lance Franklin.
But Tom Lonergan has every reason to be confident.
The Geelong defender proved a constant thorn in Franklin’s side while he was at Hawthorn and his ability to limit the champion forward’s influence was a significant reason why the Cats boasted an 11-game winning streak against their arch-rival after the 2008 Grand Final.
Lonergan told 3AW he’d be more than happy to line up on Franklin in Friday night’s blockbuster preliminary final.
“I love playing on the big fella,” Lonergan said on Sports Today.
“But I’m not sure if I will yet.
“As a defensive group, we’re just going to have to be really mindful of him.
“He’s obviously a great player and we know his capabilities.”
Lonergan said the Cats were keen to get back into the thick of it after spending two of the past three weekends on the sidelines.
He also confessed to muttering a few choice words to himself after Steven Motlop’s miss in the dying stages of the club’s thrilling qualifying final win over the Hawks.