The End For Lance ‘Buddy’ Franklin?
1 October 2015
Betswaps 0 Comments Category:
AFL
BREAKING: Franklin contemplating retirement
Our sources informed us today that the Sydney Swans star Lance ‘Buddy’ Franklin, is contemplating announcing his retirement after the Grand Final this weekend. If this is accurate (and our source is confident) then this would be a sad day for the AFL as it loses one of its most exciting players.
Franklin was ruled out of the Swans’ qualifying final against Fremantle due to mental illness. The club also disclosed at the time that Franklin suffers from mild epilepsy, however denied it was related to his current mental health issues. Franklin also missed the semi final against North Melbourne.
Since stepping away from football Franklin’s name has been dragged through the mud. Rumours surrounding an affair with a teammate’s players were quickly shot down by the Sydney Swans. There was also speculation that Franklin’s decision to take an indefinite break from AFL was not solely the result of mental illness. It is sad to see rumours like this tarnish the career of a true great of the game, especially if we really have seen the last of Franklin.
General Manager of the Sydney Swans Tom Harley was quick to talk down the issues surrounding Franklin implying he would be back next season.
“You can look at it in black and white terms that it’s an injury that’s forcing him not to be available for selection. We don’t see any long term issues with Lance at all. It’s just the immediacy of the next couple of weeks.”
While we wish Franklin all the best and hope he plays on, our information comes from someone close to the club and our source assures us that Franklin is seriously contemplating retirement.
If this pans out the way we think it will, it will have serious ramifications on Swans regarding their salary cap and Franklin’s contract. Franklin’s 9 year $10Million contract was unprecedented and included the following condition:
“An explicit acknowledgement that the long-term specific financial commitment over the nine-year agreement will apply to the Swans’ total player payments for each of the nine years, regardless of how many years Franklin is available to play for the club.”
AFL CEO Gill McLachlan warned that the Swans had taken an
“astounding gamble” with this contract.
“We’ve made sure that the board members . . . understand the risk they are taking with this contract,” he said. “I’m not sure we could do much more than that.
“We don’t have any authority to step in and stop boards from making decisions.”
http://news.betswaps.com/2015/10/01/the-end-for-lance-buddy-franklin/
