By Andrew Wu
There is hardly a job in football Lance Franklin could not walk into in retirement. The question is: would he want to?
When Franklin completes his lap of honour at the SCG on Sunday, the fans he thrilled for the last 18 years are more likely to see him next on a red carpet than the green grass of a football field.
Lance Franklin is a private person with an enormous profile.Credit: Phil Hillyard
Being arguably the greatest player since the turn of the century holds tremendous cachet. His equivalent of the last century, Leigh Matthews, remains a commanding figure in the game, 38 years after he bowed out as a player.
Few, though, expect Franklin to tread the “Lethal” path into coaching, the media and football administration, but it will not stop clubs and networks from sounding him out once he gets his head around the next phase of his life.
First, there is the not insignificant occasion of his farewell. Unfortunately for Franklin, there will be no fairytale finish in the form of the premiership he so craved in the red and the white, or even the famous send-off favourite sons Jarrad McVeigh and Kieren Jack (and Nick Smith and Heath Grundy) enjoyed in 2019.
Even if the Swans make it to an unlikely grand final berth, there will not be an 11th hour return to the field. Franklin has not trained since hurting his calf against Essendon four weeks ago. The same injury cost him 10 to 12 weeks in the pre-season.
When Swans chief Tom Harley asked him how bad the latest calf strain was, Franklin cheekily referred to an injury the former Geelong captain sustained chasing him. “About as good as your hammy in 2006.”
Such is Franklin’s box office appeal, a near sellout crowd of 42,000 is expected at the SCG to say their goodbyes to Franklin at half-time of Sydney’s match with Melbourne. Many of them would have stormed onto the hallowed turf last year when Franklin became the sixth man to kick 1000 goals. He may well be the last to do so.
His former coach at Hawthorn Alastair Clarkson, now coaching North Melbourne, has been invited by the Swans to address guests at the chairman’s function before the game. Former teammates and close friends Jarryd Roughead and Jordan Lewis are expected to be at the SCG for the celebrations.
There are plans for the notoriously media-shy Franklin, who did not appear at his retirement press conference, to give a rare interview with former teammate Shaun Burgoyne on Seven.
Once the dust settles on his career, clubs will approach Franklin to discuss what, if any, role the greatest goalkicker of his generation would like in the game.
Franklin won two flags at Hawthorn, but it’s Sydney where his relationships are strongest, and Gold Coast hold a geographical advantage as his new home.
“We haven’t had specifics and pointed discussions around anything tangible around that,” Swans chief Tom Harley told this masthead. “I’m sure after he’s had a chance to exhale we’ll pick those up.
“He’s clearly an elite football mind. He’s been a great contributor to developing our younger players. He’s got a really keen eye for talent. He’s a genuine footy head. If Lance sought out a career in football or a role with our club going forward we’d be all ears for sure.”
Suns chief Mark Evans, who has a relationship with Franklin through his days as the Hawks’ football boss from 2004-13, knows full well what impact the game’s most recognised name would have in growing the code in a non-traditional market.
“If he still decided to have involvement with the game, we would be mad not to explore that with him,” Evans said.
Which then begs the question, what roles would he do?
As Harley alluded to, Franklin has high football IQ and loves all aspects of the sport, including the development of young talent and recruiting. Tom Papley, Logan McDonald and Joel Amartey are among many Swans who have thrived tapping into Franklin’s considerable football brain.
“He absolutely loves the game,” Harley said. “He loves analysing the game, loves talented players, the environment of a footy club. The reality is all players when they retire they generally take time to reflect and work out what’s next, and he’ll be no different to anyone else from that point of view.”
It would be a major surprise if Franklin was to take a full-time role in football. To be a senior coach requires an apprenticeship of several years as an assistant, working 60-70 hours a week for a fraction of what Franklin earned as a player. As much as he is a footy head, the idea of Franklin coding games and cutting edits for players is fanciful.
As for recruiting and list management, to borrow a phrase from soccer can anyone realistically picture Franklin on a cold wet Tuesday night in Stoke watching a speculative 17-year-old come through the ranks?
Perhaps a coaching role with either the Swans or Suns academies, or the AFL’s Indigenous programs could suit Franklin, a proud Noongar-Wajuk man who understands his standing in the game and impact on others.
Franklin’s signature would also be a massive coup for any TV network. Seven and Fox Footy executives would be mad to not at least make inquiries with him or his management.
A media role would be a longshot due to Franklin’s reluctance to speak publicly, but there is a precedent: the great Tony Lockett had a short stint as a boundary rider for Seven after his first retirement.
All the indications so far are that Franklin, having spent his entire adult life in the limelight, will now happily fade into the background with his wife Jesinta and children Tallulah and Rocky.
“He’s been totally consistent with that,” Harley said. “If anyone’s deserved the opportunity to do that, he has.”
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