THE 'BUDDY Circus' is showing no signs of slowing down, with Sydney Swans coach John Longmire hit with a barrage of questions about Lance Franklin during Monday's press conference.
 
Longmire traditionally holds a media opportunity on the Monday before games and in past years, they have predominantly revolved around items such as team news, injuries and their upcoming opponent.

Longmire gets two more years with Swans

 
But these are different times at the Swans following Franklin's high-profile arrival.
 
With a much bigger media presence than normal, Longmire faced no less than 31 questions in total, 11 of which were related to either Franklin or the team's culture in a gathering that lasted twice as long as usual.
 
Longmire took it all in his stride and, somewhat admirably, was able to steer virtually all of his responses back to his only concern – trying to win games of football and bouncing back from last week's shock opening-round loss to Greater Western Sydney.
 
Initially quizzed over whether he was concerned Franklin could be a threat to the club's famous culture, Longmire replied: "I was concerned about the contested ball count last week. That was my concern.
 
"We're very well led by Kieren Jack and Jarrad McVeigh, we've got Adam Goodes, Ryan O'Keefe, Rhyce Shaw, Nick Smith, Benny McGlynn – we've got a number of strong leaders at this footy club.
 
"We're just focused on turning our performance around from last week."
 
That sparked a flood of Franklin-related questions, including an inquiry about the reported fight between the two-time Coleman medallist and Ryan O'Keefe at training two weeks ago.
 
"That was just wrong," Longmire said.
 
"We can't control what happens outside the footy club in regards to that.
 
"We just focus on getting our process right, preparing well, training hard and putting in a better performance.
 
"There's no point worrying about things like that, that was just incorrect, so we don't get caught up in that.
 
"We didn't play very well in round one and we need to play better than that.
 
"The Ryan-Lance one is a good example of when there's no point concerning yourself too much about that (stuff) because it wasn't true and we've got to worry about our process."
 
The Swans coach is confident Franklin, who started his Swans career with a quiet one-goal performance against the Giants, will improve with each game and each training session.
 
Many of the rumours that have surfaced in recent times regarding the Swans seem to have originated in Melbourne and Longmire was asked whether he felt sections of the Melbourne press were now targeting his club.
 
"I've got no idea and to be perfectly blunt, it's not something we think a lot about," he said.
 
"Once again it's one of those things that's out of our control.
 
"We knew there would be attention directed at him, but it doesn't get away from the core facts, which is trying to play well, every player in the team, every week.
 
"That's what we try to do. Regardless of whether Lance Franklin is in the team or not, it doesn't make it any easier or harder, we just have to keep performing at the level we know we can.
 
"I'm sure there'll be a few more questions as the season progresses, but it doesn’t change anything as far as working hard and preparing well."
 
There was also time for some football-related queries, with Longmire saying he expects Kieren Jack (back) to play this week and Lewis Roberts-Thomson (groin) is a strong chance of retaining his place to take on Collingwood at ANZ Stadium on Saturday night.
 
He said credit needed to go to GWS for the way it played in round one and expects a strong response from his side against the Pies.
 
There was even time for a little humour when Longmire was asked about his injured veteran Adam Goodes, who threw out the ceremonial first pitch in Saturday night's Major League Baseball game between the LA Dodgers and Arizona Diamondbacks at the SCG.
 
"I think he's got a bit of a custard arm Goodesy," Longmire said.
 
"He's claiming it would've been a strike, but from what I've heard from people who saw it, they said it was a bit of a lollypop.
 
"(He should) stick to footy."
 
Twitter: @AFL_JD