Sydney CEO Andrew Ireland hopes Lance Franklin signs a contract extension with the Swans

AT the time, it was the biggest deal in the history of the AFL. Even though Lance Franklin isn’t even halfway through his monster contract with the Swans, the man who signed him is hopeful there will be an extension.

THE man who orchestrated Lance Franklin’s nine-year, $10 million deal says he wouldn’t be surprised if the Coleman Medallist stayed at the Swans beyond 2022.

Andrew Ireland is standing down as Swans CEO at the end of this season so he won’t be around to negotiate any contract extension, but he says the two of them have already joked around about Franklin staying on at the Sydney club.

“I sometimes joke with Lance about that (a contract extension),” Ireland told The Saturday Telegraph.

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Franklin turned 31 in January and has another five years to run on his agreement, which will reach the halfway point in the middle of this season. He is showing no signs of slowing down, winning his fourth Coleman Medal and his seventh All Australian last year.

Franklin is also on a 50-game streak of continuous football since the end of the 2015.

“When we did the Alistair Lynch deal and he signed for 10 years, I wouldn’t have thought he would have signed an extension at the end of it, and he did.”

Lance Franklin continues to be a standout for the Sydney Swans. Picture: Phil Hillyard

Lynch was 26 when he signed his 10-year deal with the then Brisbane Bears and was 36 when he extended for another year to play in the Lions’ third consecutive premiership in 2003. Franklin will be 35 when his contract runs out, hardly too old to play the game. Essendon’s Dustin Fletcher played his 400th game at the age of 40 and North Melbourne’s Brent “Boomer” Harvey was 38 when he played his 432nd and last game in 2016.

At 35, Hawthorn’s Shaun Burgoyne is heading into his 17th season in the AFL.

One thing that drove all these players to such remarkable longevity was a love of the game — which Franklin shares.

“There’s a long way to go yet but Lance genuinely loves playing footy,” Ireland said.

Also pointing in Franklin’s favour is the dramatic advancements in sports medicine and sports science.

“You don’t know how injury and age gets to you, but one of the things we thought about in recruiting Lance is that in the modern era, our games record-holders have come from this period,” Ireland said.

“When I arrived at the Swans, John Rantall was the record-holder on 260 (playing through the 1960s and 70s) and he’s been passed by Goodesey (Adam Goodes), Magic (Michael O’Loughlin), Jude (Bolton), Ryan (O’Keefe) and Macca (Jarrad McVeigh).

“The reality is the way sports science is going and the way players look after themselves, there is a chance of playing longer.”

Lance Franklin looked great during the JLT Series. Picture: AAP Images

Another thing pointing towards a contract extension is Franklin’s salary, which will be proportionally less by the time the next Collective Bargaining Agreement comes into effect in three years’ time.

“What we always thought would happen did when the salary cap went up,” Ireland said. “Proportionally, Lance’s pay has become less as the cap moves.”

Originally published as Sydney CEO Andrew Ireland hopes Lance Franklin signs a contract extension with the Swans