Sydney Swans still hopeful of giving Lance Franklin a proper farewell

Lance Franklin has vanished from the AFL world within the space of a week, but the Swans are still hopeful the legend will make one final appearance in front of Sydney fans at the SCG.

The Swans are no closer to locking in plans to farewell Lance Franklin. Picture: Phil Hillyard

The Swans are no closer to locking in Buddy Franklin’s farewell to the club a week on from the superstar forward’s sudden retirement from the AFL.

The long-awaited confirmation of the round 24 fixture means Sydney can start preparations for their Sunday afternoon game against Melbourne at the SCG.

The clash could also double as a must-win encounter for John Longmire and his team if they want to play finals this season. When combined with an opportunity for fans to celebrate Franklin’s career, it would easily attract a capacity crowd at Moore Park.

However, Longmire confirmed that no formalities had been organised.

Franklin came to Swans HQ last week to inform teammates of his retirement before relocating with his family to the Gold Coast. Picture: Phil Hillyard

“[We’re] not sure just yet,” Longmire said. “We’d love to have him back and thank him in front of all the fans, but we’ll see how that goes.

“I’m sort of focused on the footy at the moment, so I’ll leave that to others to be able to organise.”

The Swans were faced with a similar scenario last year when Josh Kennedy announced his retirement. Despite still being a part of the squad, and in contention for an unlikely grand final appearance, Kennedy was chaired off the ground following Sydney’s preliminary final win over Collingwood at the SCG.

While details of Franklin’s farewell to the Sydney fans are still a work in progress, the Swans’ win over the Giants on Saturday showed that they’re ready to move forward on the field.

Hayden McLean kicked four goals, Joel Amartey had two and Logan McDonald took key marks across the ground as their young talls stood up for the challenge against their cross-town rivals.

“No one replaces Lance in a playing or leadership sense,” he said. “So, it’ll be a combination of all the forwards in the front half and I think that’s a good thing.

“Lance was terrific. But any team moves on, the others will step into his breach and that’s what we’re looking at.”