Lance Franklin has been given an emotional send-off by his teammates after the decorated Sydney Swans player announced his retirement from the AFL, effective immediately.
The 36-year-old was subbed out of the Swans’ victory over Essendon on the weekend with a calf injury. The game at Marvel Stadium proved to be his last.
Franklin told teammates of his decision on Monday morning, and described his career as an “unbelievable journey”.
He chose not to attend the Swans’ press conference on Monday afternoon where chief executive Tom Harley and coach John Longmire led the tributes for the 354-game player.
“Lance Franklin has been a wonderful player with this football club and in my opinion is the greatest forward of his generation,” Longmire said. “He is an absolute freak of nature and we have been lucky enough to have front row seats to one of the best ever to play.
Longmire asked media to respect Franklin’s decision to miss the announcement, saying he is “very shy, very humble”. “He just doesn’t like these situations I guess,” he said. “He’s more comfortable out on the footy ground.”
After being subbed out of the game on Saturday, Franklin was given a two-month timeline to return from his calf injury and on Sunday flagged with Longmire he was considering retiring. He slept on it and formally decided on Monday morning, telling Longmire and then addressing his teammates at the club, alongside his wife, Jesinta, and two children.
“Jes was in here with the kids and they just talked about it, and everyone gave him a hug,” Longmire said. “He loves being in the locker room with the boys and loves competing on weekends, but there comes a time.”
The Western Australian was picked No 5 in the 2005 draft by Hawthorn, where he kicked 580 goals and won two premierships.
The Swans sensationally signed him in 2013 on a nine-year contract reportedly worth $10m and widely derided by Melbourne media.
Yet the mobile forward flourished in Sydney, winning his third Coleman medal for the AFL’s top goalscorer in his first year. He helped the Swans to the grand final, where his side lost to his former club, the Hawks.
Longmire said Franklin’s impact in Sydney was immediate. “I first got a bit of a sense of what we’re in for when at our first training session there was a couple of helicopters circling above,” he said.
“I thought this is a bit different, and he brought a whole new generation of fans.”
Despite injury struggles and some mental health challenges, Franklin played for 10 seasons in Sydney and booted 486 goals for the red-and-white.
Longmire, who coached him and coached against him, described Franklin as an almost impossible match-up. “You put a bloke on him that was as tall as him, he beat you at ground level and beat you with speed,” he said. “You put a small on him, he’d outmark you.”
Franklin kicked his 1,000th AFL goal at the SCG against Geelong last year, prompting thousands of fans to invade the pitch.
AFL chief executive Gillon McLachlan described that moment as “perhaps the best moment in footy this century”.
“He’s been unbelievable, we will miss him terribly but we have the most amazing memories of his contribution to footy,” he said. “We salute him on behalf of every fan.”
His career tally of 1,066 goals from 354 games makes him the fourth-highest goalscorer in the history of the VFL and AFL competitions.
Franklin is one of just five players with eight All-Australian selections and is the most recent player to kick 100 goals in a season, in 2008. He is also one of just two players in the game’s history to record 300 goals for two clubs.
After the 2014 grand final defeat, Franklin helped the Swans to two more deciders, in 2016 (against the Western Bulldogs) and 2022 (Geelong), but his side fell short on both occasions.
Longmire said the forward helped the Swans stay competitive for a decade. “When you’re going through different stages of a team, suddenly you’re losing players and yet during that period, you’ve got to try and keep winning,” he said.
Harley described Franklin as “an all-time great” who has “that rare ability to transcend footy”.
“He is a champion and will leave a lasting legacy, not only at the Sydney Swans, but within the AFL and broader community,” he said.
Longmire said the Swans – who are still in the race for the finals – must quickly get used to life without their number 23: “I don’t think you’ll ever fill a gap left by Lance Franklin, but the reality is the game moves forward and we will move forward.”
The Swans plan to formally farewell Franklin at a future match.
