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33 years old with recurring hamstring injuries (a definitive sign of the body giving in). He missed half the season last year with a hamstring injury and it was only the second time in 17 years that Sydney had missed the finals. Big Bud still has two more years to run on his nine year contract after the 2020 season. The AFL have made it clear that regardless of a retirement announcement, the Swans will still have to pay the back-ended deal and it will count towards their salary cap in their intended respective years. Also, Sydney have not won a flag while Buddy has been a Swan.
So, is this infamous nine year contract finally coming back to haunt the Swans?
2014 - $700,000
2015 - $700,000
2016 - $1.2 million
2017 - $1.2 million
2018 - $1.2 million
2019 - $1.3 million
2020 - $1.4 million
2021 - $1.5 million
2022 - $1 million
Total - $10.3 million
AFL made sure Sydney had no get out clause after they snatched him from GWS
Could have had 2 more flags, similar money, and a retirement at the time his body was ready to give up.
Compare Rough's farewell to the way its looking for Buddy.
If he retires, he breaks the contract and doesn't get paid though right?
Therefore surely it doesn't get included in the salary cap?
But obviously he'd be off his nut to retire when he can just sit in the grandstand for 2 years and collect his cheque still.
Probably no McEvoy and Frawley. That would cover most of Franklins cash then maybe another medium ranger would go as wellIt is Sydney - come on!
I don't think Hawthorn necessarily win two more if Buddy stays. $1m is a massive hit to the cap with a stacked team. If Buddy stays can Hawthorn afford to keep everyone else and can they afford to add the pieces they did?
I think a few of you are being pretty kind in regards to his onfield performance.
He was paid big money to fire/be a major contributor in finals.
I like Buddy putting up a 10 v the Saints at the SCG on a sunny afternoon too, however his record
in finals is well below a pass mark.
2014 Played well in Grand Final team still beaten by 10 goals
2015 Finals Did not play
2016..Poor in the semi final loss to GWS poor in Grand Final Injured early
2017 Horrid and goalless in 2nd semi loss to Geelong
2018 Poor in knock elimination loss to GWS ( team was horrid in fairness to him )
I strongly agree. he's too big to do what he does as a 33 year old.I get the feeling Buddy wouldn't have the same number of soft tissue injuries if he dropped a few kegs.
He needs to get his frame back to c.2006-2007-2008 shape.
Too much bulk for him to carry as it is, now.
I hope not because the same argument can be made for any player that's contracted beyond this season.I understand the pro-rata argument but I think they they might try to manipulate the reduction in list size. Something along the lines of “if we had known list sizes would only be 35 players we would never have signed him for nine years”.
What have been the negative consequences to date?So, is this infamous nine year contract finally coming back to haunt the Swans?
What have been the negative consequences to date?
this precisely.I am not going to say it was a terrible deal for the Swans or even that they shouldn't have done it (they totally made the right choice).
But this idea that no premierships doesn't matter because of all the off field attention he has brought them is stupid. They have been one of the consistently top teams for close enough to 2 decades now. They were not some basket case like the Suns that just needed to be competitive and bring fans in, the end goal for them is flags. They won the flag in 2012 and made a prelim in 2013 despite a ton of injuries (i think) that year.
Never seen a top team like that get the cop out of it isn't all about flags. He has lived up to his end of the bargain but still a disappointing result for the club in the end.
Yeah, it's bad when any highly paid player gets injured. I'm not sure that's enough to say the club is "haunted" by the contract. Were WC "haunted" by paying Naitanui $1 million a year, only for him to do his knee twice? Or did they pay him what he was worth and then rotten luck intervened?He can't get on the field and is getting paid $1.3M+ for seasons 2019 - 2021. A further $1M in 2022.
For those who can't read writing that small:
2014 - $700,000
2015 - $700,000
2016 - $1.2 million
2017 - $1.2 million
2018 - $1.2 million
2019 - $1.3 million
2020 - $1.4 million
2021 - $1.5 million
2022 - $1 million
Total - $10.3 million
Yeah, it's bad when any highly paid player gets injured. I'm not sure that's enough to say the club is "haunted" by the contract. Were WC "haunted" by paying Naitanui $1 million a year, only for him to do his knee twice? Or did they pay him what he was worth and then rotten luck intervened?
My point is that for the questions posed in the OP to be salient, there must be identifiable knock-on effects from that contract. There may indeed be knock-on effects but it's not yet clear to me what they are.
Regardless of Franklin, the Swans are probably entering a transition period. Who are the top-liners who might be forced to take less money during the final years of Franklin's contract? As long as they look after Isaac Heeney and probably Callum Mills, who else do they need to worry about leaving for big money elsewhere?