Brownlow-winning footy icon fears Swans star Lance Franklin might have played last game of AFL footy

Former AFL star Adam Cooney believes that Swans megastar key forward Lance ‘Buddy’ Franklin may have already played the last game of his decorated career.

Franklin, who hasn’t played since round 13 because of a knee injury, has had a quiet year for the Swans who seem unlikely to make the finals.

After being close to a return to the field against the Cats last weekend, coach John Longmire indicated that a comeback for the 36-year-old against Richmond is more more likely. 

While Franklin’s been sidelined, Logan McDonald, Joel Amartey and Hayden McLean have picked up the slack for the Swans – and Brownlow-winning Cooney believes Buddy’s career might be over.

‘I don’t know if he can run,’ Cooney said on Armchair Experts.

Adam Cooney believes that Swans megastar Lance ‘Buddy’ Franklin (pictured) may have already played the last game of footy

Cooney (pictured) says Franklin is ‘nearly done’ and fears he may not get a send-off game

‘He is nearly done. If he can’t perform then he can’t play.’

Cooney fears that the footy superstar might not get the chance to play a send-off game, either.

‘He does deserve a send-off and everyone would love to see him play one last time but Sydney are not that far out and you can’t throw him out there if it is going to upset the rhythm of the team,’ he said.

‘He hasn’t helped the team this year … we may not see him again.’

Longmire hasn’t guaranteed that Franklin will play in Thursday’s clash with Richmond, saying he will make the call during the week.

If Franklin is included in the team, it might be his last appearance at the MCG where he was kicked 340 goals in 113 matches.

‘It was always last week that if he’d done enough at training, and we sort of had to make the decision to do enough at training but not tip him over,’ Longmire said.

‘If you do too much at training, it might make him sore for the game a couple of days later, and we didn’t want to be in that position.

Franklin hasn’t played since round 13 because of a niggling knee injury

If Franklin is fit enough to play in Thursday’s clash with Geelong, it might be his last game at the MCG – a venue where he has scored 340 goals

‘Last week was about we’ll do enough that he needs to do to feel good. And that gives him the best chance to train today (Monday) and be available for selection this week, hopefully.

‘The best-laid plans sometimes go south.’

The Indigenous superstar, who hails from Western Australia, will go down as one as the greatest First Nations players the game has ever seen in addition to being one of the best forwards of all time.

Franklin has kicked 1059 goals and 738 behinds in his 350-game career with the Hawthorn Hawks and Sydney Swans.

He currently sits in fifth place on the all-time VFL/AFL goal-kicking list with 1,047 goals, ten short of fourth-placed Doug Wade.

Franklin made his AFL debut with Hawthorn in 2005 and key forward quickly established himself as a superstar in the code.

The eight-time All Australian won premierships with the Hawks in 2008 and 2013 before relocating to the Harbour City.