sport news AFL accused of breaking its own rules over Buddy Franklin trade to Sydney Swans trends now Swans boss drops Buddy bombshell as he claims the AFL broke its own rules by trying to lure the former Hawk to GWS because league desperately needed to help struggling team Sydney have accused the AFL of breaking its own rules over Buddy Franklin It is claimed that the league heavily lobbied for GWS to sign the forward However, Franklin chose the Swans and signed a $10m deal over nine years By Ollie Lewis For Daily Mail Australia Published: 10:34 BST, 23 September 2022 | Updated: 10:34 BST, 23 September 2022 Viewcomments The AFL have been accused of breaking their own free agency rules back in 2013, with the Sydney Swans claiming that the league played a huge role in attempting to lure Buddy Franklin to GWS. Franklin, with only one year remaining on his deal at Hawthorn, was strongly linked with a move to the struggling Giants, with the free-scoring forward viewed as the shot in the arm that the new club badly needed. But it was the Swans who swooped and landed Franklin on a monster nine-year deal worth $10million, taking the media, AFL and GWS by surprise. The AFL allegedly broke their own rules to help GWS Giants sign Buddy Franklin in 2013 And former Swans chairman Richard Colless has detailed how the AFL's strong involvement in GWS' pursuit of Franklin was in breach of the rules they had created about the free agency market. 'Lance was going to do one of two things: stay at Hawthorn or play with the Swans,' Colless told the Sydney Morning Herald. 'The AFL, in breach of all the rules they had just created in relation to free agency, were dealing with Lance and his manager directly, trying to lure him to GWS. 'The AFL felt they had superior negotiating clout and thought that's where he should go because they were desperate to fast-track GWS's success. Franklin was the subject of significant interest from the new AFL club almost 10 years ago Former Swans chairman RIchard Colless (L) says the AFL's involvement broke their own rules 'It was a nonsense and it remains so. If you think the best players of all time are going to bottom clubs to get paid more money, you're out of touch with world sport. He just wasn't going there.' Swans managed to gazump GWS thanks in large part to the strong relationship between Franklin's manager, Liam Pickering, and Sydney coach John Longmire. Pickering was Longmire's best man at his wedding and he contacted CEO Andrew over a potential move, which took the chairman by surprise. 'It's important this is understood: we didn't instigate it,' Colless added. 'We knew nothing about it until Lance's manager, Liam Pickering approached Andrew Ireland.' Franklin signed a nine-year deal with the Swans and is on the verge of winning the premiership Franklin underwent a medical in Sydney during the 2013 season but nobody outside the club caught a whiff of the seismic deal in the offing. What has followed has been an incredibly fruitful nine years in New South Wales for Franklin, which could be capped off with a premiership tomorrow at the MCG. He recently put pen to paper on a one-year extension at the club and took the opportunity to aim a dig at the 'knockers' that doubted whether he would see the deal through. 'Yeah there's been a lot of knockers over the years, haven't there?' he said. 'A lot of people knocking that I wouldn't get there, I wouldn't make it. That I'd play for four or five years and that would be it. I've definitely proved them wrong, haven't I?' Read more: Share or comment on this article: All rights reserved for this news site (dailymail) and under his responsibility