An AFL great has urged the Swans and Lance Franklin to get ahead of the “doom and gloom” and annouce his retirement early.
AFL: Leigh Montagna’s First Crack is on Lance Franklin’s form and how the Swans should move forward with the ageing legend.
With over 1000 goals, eight All-Australians, four Coleman Medals and two premierships, Franklin is a future walk-up Hall of Fame member.
But the legendary forward has been held goalless in his past two games averaging less than one-and-a-half goals per match this season. He averaged at least two goals per outing in his previous 16 seasons.
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Franklin had just four disposals in the Swans’ 17-point loss to Fremantle, which left the 2022 Grand Finalists sitting 14th on the ladder with a 3-6 record. It was also the first time since 2013 Franklin has gone goalless in consecutive games.
Speaking on Fox Footy’s First Crack, Montagna said the Swans had a “Buddy conundrum”, but could fix it if they “get on the front foot and spin the narrative”.
“There’s going to be a lot of noise and a lot of doom and gloom and a lot coming for Buddy and his form, his place in the team … because we can all see he’s really struggling,” Montagna told Fox Footy’s First Crack.
Lance Franklin of the Swans. Picture: Matt King
“Before the narrative gets too strong and gets too negative about Bud, I would love to see the Sydney Swans and Bud as a combination come out and make an official announcement that this will be his last season and turn the narrative into a celebration. Turn it into something where all the fans can celebrate, in my opinion, one of the top five players to have ever played the game.
“I think he deserves the celebration and the time to have his farewells and for the fans to be able to recognise him.”
Montagna pointed out Franklin had some big milestones coming up. He’s three weeks away from playing his 350th game, while he also needs just four goals to overtake Doug Wade to sit fourth on the all-time goalkicking list.
The Saints champion also highlighted how Franklin’s Swans were still scheduled to play games in Brisbane, Perth, Adelaide and Melbourne before season’s end, while their Round 24 game would be played in Sydney.
“Especially with the way the year is going for Sydney – it doesn’t look like they’re going to play finals – so I think they need something to just generate a bit of excitement back in that footy club. By the sounds of it, the town of Sydney needs something as well to stimulate them with their football,” Montagna said.
A Buddy Franklin farewell tour could be on the cards. Photo: Phil Hillyard.
“This is a real chance to do it properly, to make it a big finale … Have some video tributes, give him standing ovations, because we don’t know if we’re ever going to see a play like this ever again.
“Do it the right way because he deserves it as one of the absolute all-time greats.”
Dual premiership Kangaroo David King said the Swans had an opportunity to learn from other clubs; past mistakes.
“I think the hardest thing to do in our game is exit champions,” King told First Crack.
“I think clubs have got it wrong over the years. The exit of Brent Harvey was really poor, I don’t know if we celebrated Wayne Carey enough, Jonathan Brown enough, Gary Ablett Jnr enough.
“I think Collingwood did it really well with Dane Swan … I like it (Montagna’s suggestion).”