HAWTHORN star Lance Franklin says he still has a lot of improvement left despite booting four goals against Collingwood in Friday night’s Qualifying Final.
Franklin missed six matches, before returning to the Hawthorn side for its Round 22 match against Sydney at the SCG.
The full forward has now played three matches since making his return and has booted four goals in each of those matches against Sydney, West Coast and Collingwood on Friday night.
The 196cm spearhead admits he can get better.
“There’s still a lot of improvement,” Franklin said at the Ricoh Centre on Monday.
“I haven’t really put together a four quarter performance, I’ve just had one or two (good) quarters here and there.
“I’ve had the six week break and I think I’m coming good at this time of the year.
“It’s good to slowly come into a bit of form.”
Unhappy with his return of 12 goals in three matches, Franklin is searching for consistency, starting with the Club’s preliminary final in two weeks.
“It would be good to get four quarters under my belt and play some consistent football,” he said.
“I’m really looking forward to next week.”
The Hawks have booked a spot on preliminary final weekend, and will face the winner of Friday night’s semi-final between Adelaide and Fremantle at AAMI Stadium.
Despite finishing on top of the ladder, however, the Hawks will play for a spot in this year’s grand final on Saturday due to the availability of ANZ Stadium for Sydney’s home final.
Franklin says that doesn’t bother the playing group, however, instead they’ll focus on preparing for its next opponent.
“We haven’t really thought about it at all,” he said.
“We’re just excited to get ourselves in the position to play in a prelim and hopefully into a grand final.”
Despite losing Brent Guerra, Clinton Young and Jordan Lewis to injury, the Hawks were able to cover their loss through the depth in the list.
Xavier Ellis, Thomas Murphy and Shane Savage proved valuable contributors for the Hawks against the Magpies.
Franklin says the Club has been working on its ability to cover injured players.
“We’ve got a pretty mature group at the moment, we’ve played a lot of footy together,” he said.
“If a guy does go out, we’ve got guys that can cover those blokes.
“Its taken a lot of time for that to happen as a footy club but we’re finally getting there.”
RELATED
Tarrant tactics OK: Buddy Read analysis of the win over Collingwood in the Qualifying Final Recap Saturday prelim for Hawks Gibson praises selfless Buddy
