Sydney greats urge Swans not to entertain trade for star forward Lance Franklin

Sydney has been urged not to trade Lance Franklin and look at other ways to rebuild the club’s future, with one club legend insisting the mega star has become the ‘heart and soul’ of the Swans.

Sydney Swans greats have implored the club not to cut Lance Franklin loose, insisting the answer to the ‘Buddy’ conundrum is learning to grow up around him.

Ex-AFL greats argue trading Franklin before his mega $10 million deal expires would shore-up the club’s long-term future at a time when their current premiership window appears all but closed.

Former Swans star Troy Luff hit back with a counterargument that while the concept makes sense in theory, the reality is Sydney would be lost without the box office superstar who has become the club’s “heart and soul”.

Premiership legend Leigh Matthews also weighed in, adamant trading Franklin would be ridiculous.

“The thought of the Swans trading Buddy Franklin for draft choices would be like the Louvre swapping the Mona Lisa for the works of some unknown artists,” he tweeted.

The ‘What to do with Buddy’ debate which has erupted among football fans both sides of the border may at the very least put further pressure on the AFL to strongly consider revising its strict trade rules and lift the current shackles it imposes on free agency.

The AFL has claimed it wants to model its trading on US sports, but doesn’t offer the mechanisms for clubs and stars to go the whole Nine Yards on player movement.

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Former 155-game ruckman Luff concedes Collingwood great Tony Shaw raised a valid point about whether other members of the Swans forward line have developed over recent years, but insists trading Franklin is not the answer.

“Theoretically it sounds like a good idea because of obviously the money it would free up and you could buy some good players. But realistically, he’s now the heart and soul of the Swans. Buddy is very committed, he’s very dedicated. He’s well supported by everyone from inside the Swans to supporters and it would be a bad move I think to try and trade him to get something you might lose out on in the long run,” Luff told The Daily Telegraph.

“I know he hasn’t been playing great the first few games but he’s still got a lot to offer and the Buddy Franklin brand itself is very valuable to the Swans, not just as a player.

“There’s a valid point that some of the forwards probably haven’t developed as much as the Swans would like.

Lance Franklin walks off after Sydney’s Round 4 loss to Melbourne. Picture: Matt King/Getty Images.

“At times I think the team does get a little bit Buddy focused and they send the ball through him more often than is required, when there are other players they can use.

“But I still think his influence on the players on the field and at training is invaluable to helping develop those kids and make them better players.

“If you take Buddy out of that forward line, there isn’t a leader out there. And they need that leader. That’s what Buddy Franklin is.”

Swans great and academy coach Nick Davis told Macquarie Sports Radio that while he could never say never to a Franklin trade, he “doesn’t think it’ll happen.”

“Being in the inner-sanctum, he brings (so much) to our young players,” Davis said.

“It’s something that’s probably been thrown up in the sky — I find it highly unlikely Sydney would want to trade Lance Franklin.”

Lance Franklin launches Sydney forward against Melbourne. Picture: Phil Hillyard.

Luff said the Swans have always built themselves on big names from the likes of Tony Lockett, Paul Roos and Barry Hall who have been brought to the club, and Adam Goodes and Michael O’Loughlin who have been born and bred.

Buddy is the biggest of them all.

It’s understood Franklin’s nine-year deal (which has four years’ remaining) is back-ended, which would make it even harder for a prospective club to take on.

The only option might be a relatively unspoken AFL trading tactic called “salary dumping” where if Sydney has the salary cap room to afford Franklin, they could offer to keep paying half his salary to entice a potential suitor to cough up more for him in a trade.