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Sydney coach John Longmire has hailed his "humble superstar" Lance Franklin after the forward became the sixth VFL/AFL player to kick 1000 career goals.

Franklin brought up the milestone with his fourth goal against Geelong on Friday night and was mobbed on the field amid extraordinary scenes of adulation following a mass invasion of fans at the SCG.

The match had to be stopped for 33 minutes as the players and then the crowd slowly made their way from the field to allow for the final five minutes of the contest to be completed.

"I've never seen that. I've never been a part of that. That was one of the most special moments you're going to get or that I can look back on," Longmire said.

"We're all privileged to, in my instance coach Lance, but also the players that he's played with over the years at both Sydney and Hawthorn.

"We've just been able to watch one of the all-time greats go about his business.

"He's played for Hawthorn and us and been a star at both clubs, and a star of the game.

"He's a very humble superstar. They're always the best types."

Franklin had only one goal to his name at the main break and needed to kick three more in the second half to reach the milestone at the Swans' home ground, rather than aiming to do it next week at Marvel Stadium against the Western Bulldogs.

With the Swans in command, Franklin's milestone became the focus for much of the crowd and once he kicked two goals in the third quarter a chant of "Buddy" was heard around the ground just before three-quarter time.

"1000 goals wherever it was kicked was going to be pretty special," Longmire said.

"To have our home supporters be witness to that and to be a part of that was pretty special.

"Plenty of people talk about 'Plugger' [Tony Lockett], that they were here and where they sat. I'm sure the same thing will be talked about in the future with Lance."

Longmire said he was focused on the match rather than the milestone throughout much of the game but admitted to getting caught up in the moment when Franklin was on 999 goals.

"It did creep into my mind just at the last little bit when a couple of the boys had the ball inside 50, I might've said once or twice, 'kick it to Lance'," Longmire said.

"I probably shouldn't have said it but it's just a special moment."

After Franklin kicked the 1000th goal and a sea of fans in red and white washed over the SCG, players from both teams gradually made their way to their changerooms although two Swans were forced to make an unexpected detour .

"When [Franklin] first comes off there was some stories," Longmire said.

"A couple of the players, I think Chad Warner and Oli Florent, were walking down Driver Avenue [outside the SCG] in their footy boots because they went out another exit and couldn't get back into the changerooms across the ground."

Warner will also go down in folklore as the Sydney player that kicked the ball to Franklin for a mark and set shot that turned out to be his 1000th career goal.

"For those young blokes, what a great moment to be a part of that," Longmire said.

© AAP 2022

Lifeline Australia will get a multimillion-dollar funding boost in next week's budget, the federal government has announced.

More than $52 million in funding over four years will be provided to help the crisis support service keep up with growing demand.

The service will use the funding to improve responsiveness and invest in crisis response innovation, surge capacity and models of care.

Prime Minister Scott Morrison says the funding will allow Lifeline to answer an extra 176,000 calls or texts from Australians in the next year - just under 4000 every day.

"The critical role that Lifeline plays has never been more evident than in these recent years ... Lifeline is lifesaving, and that's why our investment is so important," he said.

The announcement comes after the government on Thursday announced $260 million in the budget will go towards mental health support for young people.

Meanwhile, the government will also provide an extra $10 million for its National Careers Institute partnership grants program.

The program was first funded in last year's budget and invests in projects which give women more access to career pathways and employment opportunities.

Women's Economic Security Minister Jane Hume says the program will provide targeted support, open up new employment opportunities and get more women into work.

Self-funded retirees are being assured their superannuation is safe with the government guaranteeing taxes won't be raised if re-elected.

Treasurer Josh Frydenberg announced the 50 per cent reduction in minimum drawdown requirements would be extended until June 30, 2023.

He said this would provide greater certainty to retirees over their savings.

"At this election, we are again saying to retirees: under a Morrison government there will be no increased superannuation taxes," he said.

Around 1.8 million superannuation accounts are subject to the minimum drawdown rule.

An 80-year-old self-funded retiree with $250,000 in their superannuation account on July 1 would be required to draw down seven per cent ($17,500) of the account balance over the 2022/23 year.

Reducing the minimum drawdown rates by 50 per cent until June 30, 2023, means the self-funded retiree would only need to draw down 3.5 per cent ($8750).

© AAP 2022

Ukrainian troops are recapturing towns east of the capital Kyiv and Russian forces who had been trying to sieze the city are falling back on their overextended supply lines, Britain says.

US President Joe Biden meanwhile was due to visit Poland for a first-hand look at the refugee crisis in which nearly a quarter of Ukraine's 44 million people have been uprooted and more than 3.6 million have fled to neighbouring states since the Russian invasion on February 24.

A month into their assault, Russian troops have failed to capture a major Ukrainian city. An offensive that Western countries believe was aimed at swiftly toppling President Volodymyr Zelenskiy's government has been halted at the gates of Kyiv.

Battlelines there have been frozen for weeks with Russian columns threatening Kyiv from the northwest and the east. But in an intelligence update on Friday, Britain described a Ukrainian counter-offensive that had pushed the Russians far back.

"Ukrainian counter-attacks, and Russian forces falling back on overextended supply lines, has allowed Ukraine to reoccupy towns and defensive positions up to 35km east of Kyiv," the update said.

It said Ukrainian forces were also likely to try to push the Russians back on the other main axis threatening Kyiv from the northwest, while in the south Russia could still be planning to attack the port of Odesa after abandoning efforts to take Mykolaiv.

The Ukrainian military said its troops were repelling Russian forces trying to fight their way into Kyiv. Troops were also still holding on to the city of Chernihiv, northeast of Kyiv, hindering a Russian advance in the direction of the capital.

On Friday Russia's defence ministry said its armed forces have destroyed a major fuel depot outside Kyiv in a missile strike.

Ministry spokesman Igor Konashenkov told a briefing that the strike happened on Thursday evening, using Kalibr cruise missiles fired from the sea. Konashenkov said the depot was used to supply Ukraine's armed forces in the centre of the country.

Rescuers, meanwhile, are searching for survivors among the debris after two Russian missiles hit a Ukrainian military unit on the outskirts of the city of Dnipro, causing "serious destruction", regional governor Valentyn Reznychenko said.

Moscow calls its actions in Ukraine a "special military operation" to disarm its neighbour. Kyiv and its Western allies call it an unprovoked war of agression and say Russia's true aim was to overthrow the government of what President Vladimir Putin regards as an illegitimate state.

Unable to capture Ukrainian cities, Russia has resorted to pounding them with artillery and air strikes. The eastern port of Mariupol has been under siege since the war's early days. Tens of thousands of people are still believed to be trapped inside with no access to food, medicine, power or heat.

After attending an emergency summit of NATO and the G7, Biden will visit Poland, which has taken in more than half of Ukraine's refugees.

The West has ruled out intervening on the ground or answering Ukraine's plea for a no-fly zone, but has supported Kyiv with hundreds of anti-tank and anti-aircraft weapons that have blasted Russian armoured columns and prevented Moscow from taking control of the air.

A senior US administration official said Washington and its allies were also working on providing anti-ship weapons to protect Ukraine's coast. Ukrainian forces claimed on Thursday to have blown up a Russian landing ship in a Russian-occupied port.

US officials told Reuters that Russia is suffering failure rates as high as 60 per cent for some of its precision-guided missiles.

With stocks of precision-guided munitions running low, Russian forces were more likely to rely on unguided bombs and artillery, Under Secretary of Defense for Policy Colin Kahl said.

© RAW 2022