Lance Franklin snub turned out to be a win for GWS Giants, says Kevin Sheedy

FORMER GWS coach Kevin Sheedy has declared the Giants are better off without Lance Franklin, saying his decision to snub the club has proved a blessing in disguise.

Lance Franklin chose the Swans over the Giants. Picture: AAP

KEVIN Sheedy has declared the GWS Giants are better off without Lance Franklin.

The club’s founding father believes Franklin’s decision to snub the Giants for the Swans two seasons ago has proved a blessing in disguise for the west’s rising powerhouse.

At the time there was an explosion of bitterness from GWS over the Buddy rejection that also had the AFL fuming and demanding answers from the Swans.

But anger has turned to relief as the finals-bound Giants relish in the path they’ve instead taken, better investing Franklin’s multi-million dollar cash into signing experienced stars Shane Mumford, Heath Shaw and Steve Johnson as well as retaining a host of football’s most precocious young guns, like Zac Williams and Nathan Wilson.

Franklin might be the competition’s leading goalscorer and still its biggest name, but Sheedy is adamant the blindside deal that ignited a genuine cross-town AFL rivalry in Sydney has ultimately worked in the Giants’ favour.

“I’ve got no doubt. We spread our money better as an insurance,” Sheedy told The Daily Telegraph.

“Because if you spend all your money on one player and you lose him injured or through ill health or whatever (it can prove damaging).

“The deal in the end saw us get three or four players and keep some top young kids.

“And we even got one out of the Swans which was pretty good – a big ruckman from Bunyip … Mumford has been a great leader for the club.

“The money we didn’t get Buddy for we spent it wisely.”

Kevin Sheedy says Lance Franklin’s decision to snub the Giants has worked in their favour. Picture: AAP

Sheedy insists the Giants, who went all in to recruit Franklin for the 2014 season, wouldn’t have been doing their job if they hadn’t hunted the game’s most dominant forward like their lives depended upon it.

“If you don’t try and get Buddy Franklin at the Giants … I would look at our club as a pathetic effort,” he said.

But the fallout of missing him was extreme.

GWS blew up feeling they’d been played – not only poaching Mumford back from the Swans but deliberately making sure they head-hunted Sydney’s Jed Lamb as well.

The AFL were so outraged they slapped a trade ban on the Swans, even though the reasons for that punishment were never properly explained.

Franklin was supposed to become the face of western Sydney, the marquee man who would have put bums on seats at Spotless Stadium

But as Gold Coast has found out the hard way throwing all their eggs in one basket with Gary Ablett, handing the keys of the city to one man can be fraught with danger.

Mumford is one man pleased Franklin chose the Swans and questions whether the Giants’ booming forward line is missing Buddy’s presence at all - with Jeremy Cameron proving he’s a gun in his own right.

“I guess if Buddy had have been there I wouldn’t have been. It would have completely changed the structure of the team,” said Mumford.

“You look at the forwards we’ve got there, would Buddy have had a whole lot of an effect with these young kids that we’ve got coming through now that are going to be superstars?

“You really can’t know. Unless you’ve got a crystal ball where you can somehow look back and completely change things I don’t think you’d ever know exactly what’s going to happen.”

The Giants signed ruckman Shane Mumford after missing out on Lance Franklin. Picture: Michael Klein

Sheedy said despite the furore at the time, he moved on from the Franklin disappointment immediately.

“Trying to get Buddy Franklin was important. It’s your duty to try and field the best side for your fans for them to come along and watch,” he said.

“Buddy has been fantastic for the game and maybe this year the Swans are knocking on the door (of a premiership).

“We missed out on him. That’s the way it goes – you don’t get everybody.

“But in the end result we got a pretty good deal.”

Originally published as Lance Franklin snub turned out to be a win for GWS Giants, says Kevin Sheedy