Footy great Leigh Montagna tells Swans to announce Lance Buddy Franklin’s retirement from AFL now

Leading AFL pundits believe Sydney Swans star Lance Franklin’s form problems are terminal with former All-Australian Leigh Montagna calling on the club to announce his retirement immediately.

The Swans’ drop from the 2022 grand finalists to 14th on the ladder in 2023 is linked to the sharp decline in form of their mega star forward.

Franklin had just four disposals and went goalless over the weekend as the Swans fell to a 17-point loss to Fremantle at home to the SCG.

Over the course of his brilliant career, Franklin has averaged 14.92 disposals and scored just over three goals per game.

In his debut season, he averaged 10.65 disposals and scored just over one goal per game. In 2023, Franklin averaged just nine disposals per game and scored just seven goals in six appearances.

Franklin won two premierships with Hawthorn before his highly publicized move to the Sydney Swans where he won another flag

Franklin struggled to compete with Fremantle skipper Alex Pearce in the air in the Swans’ loss to the Dockers on Saturday

Montagna has called on the Swans to pre-empt the story and announce that Franklin will not play beyond this season to bring some positivity into his senior year and give fans a chance to celebrate their champion.

“There’s going to be a lot of noise and a lot of doom and gloom and a lot to come for Buddy and his form, his place in the team… because we can all see he’s really struggling,” Montagna told Fox Footy.

“Before the story gets too strong and gets too negative about Bud, I would like to see the Sydney Swans and Bud come out as a combination and officially announce that this will be its last season and turn the story into a party.

“Make it something where all fans can, in my opinion, celebrate one of the top five players to ever play the game.

“I think he deserves the celebration and the time to say goodbye and that the fans can recognize him.”

Experts believe Franklin will continue to lose battles against younger, more agile opponents as the season progresses

Former St Kilda star Leigh Montagna (pictured) has called on the Swans to announce Franklin’s retirement now, giving fans a chance to celebrate his career

Former Hawks champ Dermott Brereton has pinpointed all the areas where Franklin is losing the battle this season

Former Hawks champion Dermott Brereton said Franklin had lost all his guns and will continue to be beaten by faster, more agile opponents after watching him wrestle Fremantle’s Alex Pearce on Saturday.

“You’re turning into a grumpy old man,” Dermott Brereton said.

‘It’s a little sad. You have your guns as a footballer. Your brain is fantastic, you know how to play. But his weapons have always been his incredible agility, his incredible pace for someone of incredible size.

“He’s never had overground marking as a power, so if you lose your weapons, what’s your fallback position?”

“Your fallback position is, he likes to play from behind, he likes to bend the opponent under the footy and then he’ll hand-hit, grab second, grab third and mark the ball high off the ground. But don’t jump.

“But if you’ve got a guy who’s actually taller than you, faster than you, and more mobile than you, you have no guns against him. Buddy had no weapons with which to defeat Pearce.

“Every physical weapon Buddy has ever had, and they were phenomenal, were worthless against a fast 200cm opponent.”

Joel Selwood was given a hero’s farewell, deflects with a premiership with Geelong and is celebrated weeks after

Many championship players, like Gary Ablett Jr (pictured), bowed out without the festivities they were due

Two-time premiership-winning star from North Melbourne, David King, agreed with Montagna, saying the Swans had a chance to learn from other clubs’ past mistakes.

“I think the hardest thing in our game is to become champions,” said King.

“I think clubs have been wrong in recent years. Brent Harvey’s exit was really bad, I don’t know if we celebrated Wayne Carey enough, Jonathan Brown enough, Gary Ablett Jr.

“I think Collingwood did a really good job with Dane Swan… I like it [Montagna’s suggestion].’