Buddy Franklin, two-time Hawthorn premiership player, today paraded in new colours.
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He fronted a press conference alongside his new coach, John Longmire, at the SCG this morning.
Franklin’s deal is the biggest ever seen in the AFL trumping the $7.6 million offered by rivals GWS Giants. He revealed that “instant success” was his motivation for picking the red and white ahead of the western Sydney team.
Longmire believes the introduction of Franklin to his list will ensure that the Swans stay competitive.
“It is an incredible opportunity for this football club to get a player of Lance’s status to join …” he said. “We [now] have an opportunity to be flexible and adaptable and really mobile in our front half.”
Franklin has denied that he moved to Sydney to avoid the intense media scrutiny of Melbourne, saying his decision was motivated purely by his desire to win: “At the end of the day I wanted to come to a club where I could win more premierships.”
Franklin was part of Hawthorn’s 2013 AFL Grand Final winning team, scoring his 580th goal in 182 matches for the club.
It has been a big couple of weeks for the 196cm forward who is set to travel to Ireland tomorrow to headline the 21-strong Indigenous All-Stars squad to play against Ireland in Cavan on October 19 and Dublin on October 26. – Gavin Taylor
Top photo by Luke Mahoney of the Newsroom.
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