Saturday is no time to invoke the possibility of a Lance Franklin farewell.
Not with the fairytale of premiership glory for Franklin at the Swans so tantalisingly close. The AFL grand final is only a week away.
Can Lance Franklin take the Swans to another Grand Final?Credit:Getty
Not for the millions of non-Collingwood fans, who want to ride the Franklin fairytale and see the Magpies tipped out in Saturday’s preliminary final against the Swans at the SCG. It will be the second SCG sell-out against the team in black and white in a month.
And certainly not for the AFL, who see a Swans grand final appearance and potential premiership as a golden ticket in NSW, the competition’s most fickle state.
“We don’t need to put any timelines on Lance’s decisions that he wants to make post the football season, but we’ve been on the record saying that we want Lance to play for as long as he wants to play, and with us,” Harley said.
“We appreciate there’s interest in it, but from our point of view, I know that he’s laser-focused on Saturday, and we fully respect that. What will be, will be once the season concludes.”
Swans CEO Tom Harley as Geelong captain with the premiership cup in 2009.Credit:Angela Wylie
There is constant chatter in AFL circles about how successful Franklin’s move from Hawthorn has been and whether his nine-year, $10 million deal should be considered a failure if he does not win a flag with the Swans.
That argument doesn’t hold water with Bolton or Harley. Bolton describes Franklin’s impact as “huge.”
“I look at it this way,” Bolton said. “The bums on seats at the SCG and the level of interest that he generates. He’s such a headline act and has been for so long. It puts the Swans in the focus and in the lives of so many people in the city, and he’s been able to deliver a performance year-on-year. He’s been a phenomenal player for the club.”
A four-time Coleman medallist, awarded to the AFL’s leading goalkicker each season, Franklin kicked 50 goals again this season. He has managed at least 47 in seven of his nine years at the Swans. The other two seasons, 2019 and 2020, Franklin was badly hindered by injury. Those are the only seasons during his tenure at the club the Swans have missed the finals.
Tony Lockett, who kicked a point after the siren in the 1996 Preliminary Final, sending the Swans into the Grand Final.Credit:Jason South
Back in round two, he created pandemonium and started a ground invasion at the SCG by becoming the sixth player in VFL/AFL history to kick 1000 goals in their career.
During their three grand final eras, the Swans have been able to import the most value forward of that decade: Tony Lockett, Barry Hall and Franklin.
“All of those decisions were made to make us a better team,” said Harley.
“It just so happens that those three players … are really enigmatic characters that draw people through the gates,” Harley said.
‘He’s been able to deliver a performance year-on-year. He’s been a phenomenal player for the club’
Jude Bolton on Lance Franklin’s time at the Swans
“I guess that’s been a bit of a call sign for Swans teams, but I’d like to think that in the overall sporting landscape we’re not relying on that. We’ve been able to bounce out of COVID and get back to the 30,000 average attendees of the SCG for home games, and there’s a broader range of players that our fans are relating to.”
While the AFL is all-consuming in the southern states and Queensland has a viewership that now matches South Australia’s for many matches, most people in NSW don’t care about AFL most of the time.
With that 30,000 crowd average another 60,000 in Sydney regularly watch the Swans on television. That’s 90,000 in a population of greater Sydney estimated at 5.3 million.
This highlights what those who follow the AFL in Sydney already know, that the AFL may have a national competition, but it doesn’t have a national game. That’s until the Swans are alive in grand final week. If the Swans are playing, write your own ticket. Ratings are huge. They’ve featured in the six most-watched AFL grand finals in pre-COVID history.
The 2005 Grand Final attracted 4.4 million viewers. Credit:Vince Caligiuri
In joint first place are the 1996 loss to North Melbourne, a week after Lockett kicked that preliminary final post-siren point at a heaving SCG, and the 2005 triumph against West Coast, which featured Leo Barry’s heroic match-saving mark. Both matches came in at 4.4 million metro and regional viewers.
Then there’s the 2006 loss to the Eagles (4.15 million), the 2016 loss to the Bulldogs (4.09 million), the 2012 victory over Hawthorn (4.08 million) and the 2014 loss to Hawthorn (3.73 million).
Contrast this with the only grand final Collingwood has played over the past decade, a last gasp loss to West Coast in 2018. That attracted 3.38 million viewers.
Despite the mystique and madness surrounding Collingwood, they are really just another Victorian club whose fans already watch the grand final regardless of who is playing.
Sydney is different, as Roy Masters once pointed out while addressing a joint Swans, Roosters lunch during the week the Swans were heading into the 1996 AFL decider.
“Rugby league fans have a series of exciting affairs with clubs when things are going well. AFL fans endure a long and difficult marriage with their club,” observed Masters.
The Swans may have lost the 1996 Grand Final but it attracted a record-equalling 4.4 million viewersCredit:Fairfax
While this is certainly the case with Collingwood, many in Sydney hardly give the AFL a second thought but climb on board for the excitement of a Swans grand final appearance. Welcome to event city.
For the AFL, the flow-on effect is just as important as headline ratings, with NSW remaining the state with the most potential for growth.
Most corporations are based in Sydney, so when the Swans are one of the standout teams it makes a big difference to the slice of the sponsorship pie.
The Swans and the AFL could not ask for a greater tonic than a Buddy-inspired premiership, but first there’s Saturday.
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