Hawthorn great Dermott Brereton says his former club expected Lance Franklin wouldn’t play out his entire contract, expecting him to only make it to 2020, when he left them for Sydney.

Franklin famously joined the Swans on a nine-year, $10 million contract after the 2013 season, but could have stayed at the Hawks if they’d chosen to match the offer.

Most agreed the length of the deal was its most risky element. Franklin’s first game in red and white came as 27-year-old, and he has played 118 games for the club since joining, but has only played every match in a season once (in 2016).

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Now the superstar forward is set to miss a majority of the 2020 season, after scans confirmed a hamstring injury worse than the one that saw him miss nine weeks in 2019.

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That will see the 33-year-old Franklin miss much of the seventh season of his deal which is set to expire at the end of 2022.

Brereton revealed on Fox Footy Live the Hawks expected his body to break down in the final years of the deal.

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“Those at Hawthorn thought, we can’t match that,” he said.

“We can’t match that but they’re probably only getting him for seven (years). That was the estimation.

“I remember at Hawthorn. He had back issues, and we didn’t think he was going to get another nine years out.

“Probably thought, look, if they can get seven out of him, well done. That’s what he’s at now, he’s in the seventh now.

“The back issues – I don’t know whether they all roll in. We say miles on the clock, the odometer’s ticking over.”

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Franklin played his 300th AFL game in the final round last season and kicked four goals after more than two months on the sidelines, showing his class.

Despite playing just 10 games last season, he kicked 27 goals, placing him 10 behind the club’s leading goalkicker Tom Papley and one behind Sam Reid, both of whom played all 22 matches.

Franklin sits seventh on the all-time VFL/AFL goalkicking list, 56 goals away from the magical 1000 mark.