Opinion
‘He’s very shy and very humble’: Lance Franklin retires as the superstar few people really know
Peter Ryan
Sports reporterIt was no surprise to anyone who knows Lance Franklin that he did not attend his own retirement press conference.
That’s not the man’s style.
He took the time to attend the club with his young children Tallulah and Rocky, and his wife Jesinta to deliver a farewell to teammates and club officials in private. The approach was authentic and consistent with his personality.
Jesinta and Lance “Buddy” Franklin.Credit: Phil Hillyard
Franklin will miss his teammates, and they will miss him.
But they will love thinking of him being happy with family as he heads, as most expect, to live on the Gold Coast, having been as genuine, despite his stratospheric profile, as any teammate they had.
Perhaps because of the champion footballer’s reclusive personality, some friends and former teammates were reluctant to speak publicly about Franklin, the man. One who did not want to be named said “Buddy” always loved the banter that filters through football clubs where hierarchies shift from hour to hour according to whom the joke is on. He wasn’t immune to being the subject of such banter, either, among those he trusted.
And he gained energy from watching those much younger than him emerge on the football field, building enough confidence to show their personality in the change rooms.
Western Australian Sharrod Wellingham, who never played alongside Franklin but lived with him when he played for Collingwood and Franklin was at the Hawks, had lunch with Franklin’s family (his sister Bianca flew from LA to share in the occasion) and close friends the day after he kicked his 1000th goal, an occasion that prompted thousands to storm onto the SCG to celebrate.
Wellingham recalled to Triple M that during the laid-back occasion a few jokes were made at Franklin’s expense and the star forward eventually said in a relaxed tone: “Surely I shouldn’t have to be putting up with that today?”
Franklin is a private person with an enormous profile. Credit: Phil Hillyard
Franklin’s inner circle was relatively small, with Hawthorn premiership teammates Jarryd Roughead and Jordan Lewis (players drafted to the Hawks at the same time as Franklin) in it, but his friendships among others who surrounded him on the field were strong and genuine.
Within the locker room or on interstate trips, former Hawks teammates of Franklin’s, who chose to remain anonymous so they could speak freely about him, said he could crack a room up with his sharp wit. He delighted in getting to know his younger Sydney teammates in the hub during COVID, their energy recharging him during the latter part of his career.
Sydney CEO Tom Harley said Franklin was engaged and engaging when he conversed with others, holding their attention and being thoughtful and articulate.
“When he locks into a conversation, you know you are talking to him,” Harley said.
After becoming a celebrity in football-mad Melbourne before he turned 21, Franklin enjoyed the trappings of success as much as anyone, but he also lost his anonymity and being the centre of attention in places other than the football field was uncomfortable for him.
He learned who he could trust with the locker room a sanctuary, and he lived for periods on his own or with Wellingham when in Melbourne.
He did few one-on-one interviews, with the closest that most journalists got to him being the hours after his two premierships, when he stood surrounded by microphones and articulated his emotions with a smile as wide as his kicking arc. His friends protected his privacy and even in retirement many remained reluctant to detail too much about who he is as a person.
Sydney coach John Longmire, right, and Swans CEO Tom Harley, left, announced Franklin’s retirement.Credit: Wolter Peeters
With life in Melbourne becoming more intrusive, the option he held to choose a new club as a free agent arriving at the end of 2013 became important.
But it was his relationship with model Jesinta (then Campbell) that ultimately saw him turn his head away from Melbourne to Sydney. She worked and lived there, so Franklin’s management contacted the Swans to see whether they would be interested in a free agent with a rock star profile who had kicked about 500 goals.
They were.
And the benefits to Franklin and those who were his friends at the Hawks were obvious. He could live a life relatively free of being noticed, able to socialise and mature in his town on his terms. He also locked in a nine-year deal worth approximately $10 million to play the game he never stopped loving playing, having first played it as a six-year-old nipper in the west.
The relationship between Lance and Jesinta blossomed, and they were married in a private ceremony in the Blue Mountains in 2016 and had their children in 2020 and 2021.
Jesinta, an astute businesswoman who has since become an accredited player agent and with a public profile herself, understood how important it was to decompress occasionally when in the public’s eye.
As he passed 30, Franklin’s focus had narrowed to football, family and fun. His media appearances were sparse, and the family began to think about a future beyond the game he transformed.
What that future holds remains unclear, but it is certain he will spend the first part of it among close friends and family, those who love him as a man who was unbelievably good at football, someone who once said he wanted to be remembered as “a good teammate who had a crack”.
As his coach John Longmire said when explaining Franklin’s absence from his retirement press conference.
“He just doesn’t like these situations, and you have to respect that... Everyone sees the way he walks around a footy ground and thinks that is him 24 hours a day. That’s not [him]. He’s very shy and very humble,” Longmire said.
Keep up to date with the best AFL coverage in the country. Sign up for the Real Footy newsletter.