Hawks hope triumph convinces Buddy

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HAWTHORN defender Josh Gibson hopes Saturday's premiership is the miracle that keeps his best mate Lance Franklin at the club.

The club is bracing for the superstar forward to officially tell club chiefs within 48 hours he will accept a mega $12 million six-year offer to join Greater Western Sydney.

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Franklin was highly emotional in a Fox Footy interview after the game with Hawks great Dermott Brereton, perhaps indicating this was his Hawthorn farewell.

''Words can't explain it. It is an unbelievable experience. I can't explain it. My family has been a massive part of my life,'' he said.

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Franklin said he would spend the next couple of days partying with his premiership teammates before sitting down with his manager Liam Pickering to determine where he played next season.

''I'll sit down with my manager on Monday or Tuesday after I've finished having a party with the boys and work out what I'm going to do,'' Franklin said after the match.

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But while most Hawthorn senior figures have given up hope he will stay, Gibson believes there is a slim chance.

Gibson said a Franklin departure would leave "a massive hole" but backed the spread of Hawthorn goalkickers to continue to flourish in their premiership defence next year.

Gibson, who joined Waverley from North Melbourne, said he would finally talk with Franklin about the agonising decision once flag celebrations had settled.

"If he leaves I've got no bad blood, I love the bloke, everyone knows that," Gibson told the Sunday Herald Sun.

"We'll just go and celebrate this time and hopefully that premiership medal around his neck today helps convince him to stay at Hawthorn

"It is a tough decision but we haven't spoken about it. Maybe we will now that the season is over.

"If he leaves, which I hope doesn't happen, then other guys can step up. But it's going to be a massive whole to fill because he's a champion of the game.

"We've shown that we can still play good footy without him because there's a lot of dangerous forwards down there. That's what we've wanted to do – share the load."

Franklin's tears during his post-match interview were assessed by some as him coming to grips with the move north.

Asked if winning another premiership at Hawthorn made it any easier for him to leave, he replied: ''No, not at all. I wouldn't say it's any easier to leave. The Hawthorn Football Club's been a massive part of my life and my career and made me the person I am today, so I absolutely love the club to death.''

But while he could stay, the second premiership allows him to leave on his own terms if he wants to given he has given such long service to the club.

His manager Pickering confirmed this morning he had met with GWS chief executive Dave Matthews as well as Hawks list manager Graeme Wright this week.

It means he has the exact details of both offers facing Franklin, with Hawthorn's offer potentially over $6 million less than the GWS offer.

Hawthorn's  best offer is five years and around $5.5 million, while GWS can offer him $12 million over six years if he accepts AFL promotional funds.

Most in football - including key Hawthorn figures - have long given up hope Franklin will stay given the scope of the Hawks offer.

But former captain Shane Crawford is one who believes he will never sign up to a GWS deal with days each week of promotion to earn a massive AFL salary too.

Crawford confirmed this week Franklin had this year given  back a luxury car worth over $100,000 to a company because they required him to do several days promotional work.

Franklin had 18 disposals and kicked the second goal of the match to play his part in the Hawks' 15-point victory.

Hawthorn will ask for a decision early in the week to allow them as much planning time given free agency starts on Friday.

Picking had suggested a Wednesday timeline but the Hawks must quickly move on to plan to use the massive salary cap hole if he leaves.

The Hawks have worked hard on a plan for life without Franklin, which could involve luring players including Dale Thomas,  Shane Mumford and 20-year-old Lions ruckman Billy Longer.

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