Sydney says it would never trade Lance Franklin as a future in list management/recruiting beckons for the Swans megastar
Sydney are undergoing a rebuild and their results could get worse in 2020. Will it see ageing superstar Lance Franklin get poached? Swans CEO Tom Harley reveals it’s not just his talent that could see him remain.
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Sydney believes Lance Franklin could eventually move into a list management or recruiting role in football, adamant it would never trade him even if the club’s rebuild stagnates this season.
Franklin has three more years on his lucrative nine-year contract and will miss the first two rounds of the season as he recovers from January knee surgery.
Collingwood legend Tony Shaw said last year the Pies should try to cash in on Franklin’s value during their rebuild by trading him back to Melbourne.
Sydney chief executive Tom Harley told the Herald Sun Franklin was now fully entrenched in the city, saying the Swans would have done the long-term deal ten times over.
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“You are only as good as your last game and his last game was off a ten-week break and he kicked four goals in his 300th. He has an insatiable appetite for the game. He has taken a significant leadership role with our young forwards and he has a real interest in talent and recruitment and I am sure he is starting to think what life post-Sydney is like and he’s totally invested.”
Asked about what is likely to be trade speculation if Sydney’s young side takes time to improve, Harley knocked it out of the park.
“It’s not going to happen so I can unequivocally say that,” he sad.
“He is absolutely entrenched. He has put his faith in Sydney to finish his career off here. Assuming he does finish up when his contract is finished, because he isn’t going to play for another club, he made a significant investment in us. And for those who don’t know he’s married to a Sydney girl and very settled in Sydney.
“He has been enormous. It’s very difficult to pass judgment around the lay of the land in Sydney and NSW from Melbourne and his contribution to the game has been enormous.
“I don’t think you would find anyone to say he hasn’t delivered on that performance and then the flow-on effect has been enormous for the game. To see him evolve as a leader, person and custodian of the game and now father has been great to witness. He is an asset to the game and we would do it ten times over.”
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Franklin’s great mate Jarryd Roughead has moved to St Kilda in the kind of role that might interest Franklin.
It combined leadership and list management, with Sydney coach John Longmire saying last year Franklin often pestered him on players he believed the Swans should recruit.
‘NO REGRETS’ WITH DANIHER
Sydney chief executive Tom Harley says the Swans have no regrets over their handling of the aborted Joe Daniher deal despite failing to land their key trade target last October.
As Daniher continues his rehabilitation from groin surgery the restricted free agent can now move to the Swans more easily if he again requests a move up north at season’s end.
Some Melbourne critics believe the Swans had to land their target at any cost given they had been so public in chasing the Essendon spearhead.
But Harley told the Herald Sun Sydney had to do what was best for its own list in a deal where the Swans point-blank refused to give up quality players or pick five in exchange.
Asked about Sydney’s obligation to get a deal done, Harley said: “That is the commentary?
“I think the responsibility of office bearers of clubs is to do the right thing by the club. I sit really comfortable with the way we handled that. I am not accountable to anyone other than the board and supporters.
“We put what we thought was a compelling offer to Essendon and totally understand why (it didn’t happen why). Essendon didn’t do the deal. It’s a two-way economy when it comes to trades and if there is a view that we weren’t in it enough, I don’t lose any sleep over it.
“The added layers in the Joe situation was clearly a relationship that I had with him.
“I am very comfortable we did the right thing and as long as I and other decision makers at the footy club put this club first you can’t go too far wrong.”
Sydney’s bottom line was that it could not lose star small forward Tom Papley for a player not certain to play in 2020 but clearly will chase Daniher hard again.
Papley is contracted to 2023 despite homesickness and some family issues back in Melbourne but Harley made clear the Swans believe he could stay as a one-club player.
“We absolutely respect the position Tom was in last year and without going into specifics Tom respects the position we took as well. We pride ourselves on the way we look after players,” Harley said.
“He is in a good physical and mental space to have a strong year. What we expect from him is he gives it everything. He is a contracted player for another three years and we expect him to play for us for the next three years at least.
“From what I have seen he has had a really strong pre-season. He has kicked nine goals in two games and one of them was a state game and I think his footy is going OK. That’s a credit to him. It was clearly a tumultuous period leading up to the trade period and he fronted from day one and from what I read the playing group spoke about it from day one.”
Originally published as Sydney says it would never trade Lance Franklin as a future in list management/recruiting beckons for the Swans megastar