CUT-PRICE BUDDY CAN KICK
FRANKLIN READY TO TAKE LESS CASH AND SIGN NEW DEAL WITH THE SWANS
LANCE Franklin has indicated to Sydney he is prepared to take a pay cut to ensure none of the club’s exciting young guns are squeezed out next season by salary cap pressure.
Franklin, 35, has told the Swans in ongoing private discussions he is excited about the talent coming through and wants to extend his record $10 million, nine-year deal that expires at the end of this season.
A Swans insider with knowledge of the active contract talks has told The Saturday Telegraph Franklin wants to play at least another season if his body holds up and will accept less money than he’s currently on.
It’s understood Sydney’s goalscoring spearhead is confident a long period of on-field success is just around the corner following the rapid rise of recent draftees including Logan McDonald, Errol Gulden, Braeden Campbell and second-year player Chad Warner.
In an exclusive interview with Mark Robinson, Franklin said he was going to leave the decision-making until the end of this year.
“I just want to see how I’m going, hopefully have a good season and then sit down. If I’m not playing good footy I’ll go to John (Longmire) and say it’s done.”
Swans chairman Andrew Pridham confirmed the club wants to extend the star’s career beyond season 2022.
“He’s looking fantastically fit so I think we are pretty keen to extend him if that is what he wants to do and I think it is,” Swans chairman Andrew Pridham told Seven News this week.
The AFL’s highest-paid player has defied the naysayers by not only making it to the final season of his historic $10 million, nine-year deal, but by continuing to dazzle on the field.
Plenty of experts doubted whether Franklin would fulfil his contract but he stands fit and firing for season 2022 sitting just five goals short of joining the prestigious 1000-goal club.
It is an exclusive club that features just five other greats – Tony Lockett on 1360, Gordon Coventry 1299, Jason Dunstall 1254, Doug Wade 1057 and Gary Ablett Snr on 1031.
Given the nature of the modern game Franklin is likely to be the last player to reach the milestone.
Since joining the Sydney Swans in 2014 from Hawthorn, Franklin has played a pivotal role in the team’s success, leading them to two grand finals and four separate finals series. After Sydney took rare trips down the ladder in 2019 and 2020, the team defied the critics again to rebuild its list over an astonishingly short period thanks to the likes of Gulden, Campbell and Warner, who all took the league by storm last season claiming the first three NAB Rising Star nominations.
It’s easy to forget about Justin McInerney, Tom McCartin, James Rowbottom and Nick Blakey who have all found their feet at the top level, influencing a brand of fast and aggressive football.
The perfect combination of battlehardened stars in the likes of Franklin, Josh Kennedy, Dane Rampe and Luke Parker with a touch of fresh talent had premiership-contending sides looking for answers last season and Buddy recognises the team’s chemistry is only building, ultimately forcing the Swans into the premiership conversation.