With the 2022 AFL season complete, Kane Cornes and Garry Lyon have gone through all 18 clubs and come up with burning questions for each.
Sydney enjoyed a strong campaign last season but fell disastrously in the Grand Final, going down by 81 points to Geelong.
While the Swans were still better than all but one team in 2022, Lyon believes they must improve in 2023 if they are to go one better.
The former Melbourne forward believes Logan McDonald and Lance Franklin must form a winning combination next season if the Swans are to win it all.
“Can Logan (McDonald) and (Lance) Franklin (form a partnership)? Is the question I’ve got,” Lyon said on SEN Breakfast.
“Logan is the future and Buddy is everything.
“When I watch Logan McDonald play, when Buddy’s not there he looks to me to say, ‘Bud’s not here, I need to be the man, I’ll present’.
“They played Melbourne at the MCG halfway through the year, he played a fantastic game, he was involved, he was involved, he was a contest.
“I don’t know whether he defers to Bud or if he takes up so much space, but can they work together?”
Cornes had similar queries and asked whether it was in Sydney’s best interest to be playing a soon-to-be 36-year-old up forward in 2023.
“Is it in the best interest of Sydney’s future to have Buddy Franklin for the majority of games next year? That was my exact question,” Cornes said.
“They signed him, they’ll have to play him … Logan McDonald may have to be patient or force his way in and take Reid’s spot.
“Reid’s Grand Final was disappointing, he was injured, and he often gets injured, so perhaps it’s the Reid spot for Logan McDonald and this conversation doesn’t happen.
“He’s one of the more fascinating players to watch next year Franklin, he was badly beaten in the finals and when he’s badly beaten his body language and attitude, I think filters through the team because of who he is.”