Sydney superstar Lance Franklin has brushed off suggestions he will be playing elsewhere in 2023 after speculation during the week that contract negotiations with the Swans had broken down.
Reports from The Herald Sun prior to Round 18 suggested that while Franklin was keen on playing on next season, the forward wasn't pleased with the Swans' lowball offer to keep him in red and white.
Speaking to Matthew Pavlich on the ground after Sydney's 17-point win over Fremantle on Saturday night, the eight-time All Australian refused to be drawn into any telling comments when asked about his future.
โIโve played for 18 years mate so Iโm pretty much used to all that commentary,โ Franklin said to Fox Footy.
โYou just put it to the side, move on, come out here, everyone as I said played really well and really happy with that win.โ
Despite Franklin's relative silence on the noisy speculation, one former Swan rubbished the suggestions that he could be on the move. Speaking on AFL Nation,ย Gerard Healy revealed that he didn't believe the figures reportedly offered by Sydney to the Franklin camp, instead revealing that he thought a deal between the two was close.
โEven if you accept the numbers on the paper, which Iโm told are incorrect, it was so minute, thereโs no way you should be going public with that, whoever in the camp or whichever third party thought it was a good idea to convince (Mark Robinson) it was 100 per cent right,โ Healy said on AFL Nation.
โI did the numbers and thought, that canโt be right, nobodyโs going public if thereโs a disparity of $200,000.โ
โIt didnโt smell right to me, this whole thing.
โMy understanding is that this deal is not far away from being done.
โI donโt think there was the disparity that the article suggested between (Franklin and Sydney).โ
โMore has been written about this non-story than any other one this year, and I think it made sense to a lot of people because of another non-story and that is that Dustin Martin is going to go to the Swans.โ
Franklin kicked one goal and had seven disposals in Sydney's Saturday night win. The victory keeps the Swans in touch with the top four with just five rounds left to play, four points behind the current fourth placed team in Fremantle.
