Superstar Sydney recruit Lance Franklin says he left Hawthorn to chase more premierships
LANCE Franklin says he hasn't reached his prime and is looking forward to playing for the next nine years as a Swan. Live trades chat
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LANCE Franklin says he didn't join Sydney to escape the Melbourne "fishbowl".
Speaking at the SCG as he was paraded in red and white for the first time, the new Sydney Swan said joining family and friends was the overwhelming factor for his decision to leave the Hawks after nine seasons to take up a massive nine-year, $10 million offer.
"Not at all, definitely not," Franklin said when asked if he had been eager to leave Hawthorn as a result of Melbourne's intense media spotlight on AFL footballers.
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"At the end of the day it had no impact on my decision to come to Sydney at all.
"I've obviously got friends, I've got family up here. Sydney are a great football club and I just wanted a different opportunity and a new start and Sydney were able to come to the table and I was lucky enough to come to such a great football club."
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Franklin denied he had toyed with GWS, saying manager Liam Pickering handled his contract talks until after the Grand Final when Sydney made its huge offer. (Keep reading below the scribble chat)
And he said he was confident he would fit in well with the "Bloods culture" and is confident he can play out the full term of his contract.
"I think my best footy's still there. Most players can get to their prime around 26-27," said Franklin, who will be 36 in the final year of the nine-year deal.
Franklin said leaving Hawthorn was "a tough decision" and he "loved the club to death, still" but he was excited by the prospect of playing beside idol Adam Goodes.
"I'm really excited and pumped to get up here," he said.
"I'm going to miss (my former Hawthorn teammates) to bits, but I won two premierships with Hawthorn Football Club, I walk away from Hawthorn Football Club very proud of what I did for that football club, now I"m at Sydney and hopefully we can win a few more premierships."
The Swans said while they were set to lose Jesse White to Collingwood and Shane Mumford to GWS, they did not have to trade any other stars to make room in the salary cap for Franklin.
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Earlier, the man who put together the AFL's deal of the decade to land Lance Franklin said the superstar could become even better in the red and white.
“If he can settle into Sydney as we expect he will he might just scale new heights.” Swans CEO Andrew Ireland toldSuperFooty.
It took a little bit more work than Ireland had hoped for but after a week of investigations by the AFL into the contract the league finally gave the green light to the deal.
When Hawthorn declined to match the offer at 6.24pm Franklin officially became a Swan.
“It’s a relief,” Ireland said.
“It’s been a long time in gestation but I was always confident we could get the deal done.
“I’m not concerned about the criticism of the deal it’s an opinion business.”
Swans coach John Longmire has defended the extraordinary length of the Buddy Franklin deal saying a player of his quality is worth the risk.
“We understand that nine-year contracts are rare in AFL football, but so too are players the quality of Lance Franklin,” Longmire said.
“As a club we will always seek to improve our playing list and we are confident Lance will be a great fit.
“Lance is a champion player and we are really excited that he wants to continue his outstanding career at the Swans.”
AFL deputy chief Gillon McLachlan confirmed Sydney will have to pay the former Hawk for every year of the contract even if he retires before the deal finishes.
“If he’s injured and not able to play … they’re obliged to pay him and that money is obliged to be in the cap,” McLachlan told trade radio.
“We have to let football clubs make decisions. We don’t have any authority to step in and stop boards making decisions.
“We’ve said it’s a bona fide contract and the board members, who are the ones (responsible), understand the risk.”
Having Franklin’s contract payments (which are believed to be heavily back ended) included in the salary cap even if he has retired prematurely could create an enormous head ache when it comes retaining their crop of talented players.
Josh Kennedy, Kieren Jack, Dan Hannebery and Lewis Jetta all have room to improve.
It is highly likely these players and others like Luke Parker and Sam Reid will increase their value even more.
The AFL has sought and obtained written guarantees from every Sydney board member and members of senior management Franklin’s contract will be paid in full.
The 26 year old will be 35 in the final year of the 10 million dollar deal.
The 38 year old Dustin Fletcher is the oldest player in the game, the veteran defender will play on for another year at the Bombers in season 2014.
In other news the Swans influence at the GWS Giants is growing with premiership player Amon Buchanan joining ruckman Shane Mumford at Skoda Stadium as an assistant development coach.
Buchanan played 116 games for the Swans including the 2005 grand final before moving to the Brisbane Lions in 2010 where he played 18 games.
“It’s a young club with a developing playing list which is going through a really exciting phase,” Buchanan said.
“There’s a lot of young talent at the GIANTS and I’m looking forward to the challenges that we’ll face over the coming years.”
The 30 year old was unlucky to miss out on the Norm Smith Medal in the Swans history making 2005 premiership.
Then Eagle Chris Judd was a rare winner of the award playing on a losing team.
