Lance Franklin’s girlfriend Jesinta Campbell has taken to the airwaves to express her disappointment at Hawthorn fans booing her superstar partner.
“He still has a great admiration and respect for that football club (Hawks) and, you know, I think it’s really difficult for him when he goes down there (to Melbourne) … I find it a little bit disrespectful.
“I just think, all of a sudden, the supporters have forgotten the nine years (Franklin played at Hawthorn),” Campbell told Triple-M morning radio in Sydney.
Last week, Franklin dumped manager Liam Pickering – who brokered the stunning 10-year, $9 million deal that took Franklin from the Hawks to the Swans – to join Campbell’s celebrity manager Sharon Finnigan.
Oh Jesinta. If the 9 yr old kids who wore 23 on their backs can cope with Bud leaving, I'm sure he can cop some boos http://t.co/Tt8YIHaizI — Lucy Race (@Racey19) July 29, 2014
Hawk fans 'disrespectful' to Buddy says JesintaCampbell - $10M can buy a lot of violins http://t.co/CIsyd8jdHx via @AFL
— AbhikSengupta(@hawkytime) July 29, 2014
He reportedly made the decision to leave Hawthorn long before announcing it days after helping the Hawks win the 2013 premiership. In part, that experience has led to a call for '‘secret'’ free agency arrangement, whereby players can be signed by a rival club while playing out their existing contract.
Campbell apparently finds the banter associated with players changing clubs a little more unsettling than her boyfriend.
“He says that it doesn’t get to him and I suppose there’s a part of him that, you know, he sort of has to learn to shut it off,” Campbell told Triple-M’s Grill Team in Sydney today.
“But as his partner, I do see that he’s affected by it. He’s a human at the end of the day.
“He feels everything that everyone else feels.
“Just because he’s on a football field and can kick goals and is this sporting legend, doesn’t mean that he’s invincible.
“I think people just have to be really conscious of the fact that he’s just like you and I, and he feels exactly the same way that we feel.”
Last Saturday, some sections of the 72,000-strong MCG crowd jeered their former hero during his first game in Melbourne for Sydney against Hawthorn.
Franklin kicked 580 goals in 182 games over nine seasons for Hawthorn, playing in two premiership-winning teams. He led their goalkicking six times.
He has booted 50 goals in 16 games for Sydney, the premiership favourites, starring after a slow start. Rumours of Franklin’s disruptive behaviour, rife over pre-season, have faded since his on-field form turned for the good.
