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Jesinta Franklin has revealed husband Lance was very close to walking away from football.
The 30-year-old fashion and lifestyle influencer has opened up on the family’s rollercoaster ride which will continue into 2023 when the star goalkicker returns for the Swans.
The former Miss Universe Australia turned businesswoman earlier this year dismissed what she called “rumours’ about her husband, 35, and his footballing future.
She sent the rumour mill further into meltdown in July when she said Franklin had “other options” outside of playing for the Swans in 2023 and even said she could see her family, including two-year-old daughter Tallulah and one-year-old son Rocky, moving interstate to be closer to family in future years. Jesinta has family on the Gold Coast and it was rumoured recently that the couple had their eyes on a move to the Brisbane Lions.
She now says Franklin was “50-50” on retiring this year and says Franklin was on some days “on the side” of hanging up his boots.
“It was truly a very difficult decision,” Franklin has told Stellar of her partner’s move to play on.
“We’re at that point in our lives where we’re starting to think about the next chapter and the next stage, and what that looks like. This year, as time went on, he just wasn’t sure what he wanted to do.
“He was still thoroughly enjoying football, but I think the pull of family and spending more time with the kids intensified.
“Just before the grand final, he said, ‘I feel like in my heart and my body, I need to go on for another year’. I support him fully in that.
“I’m probably more ready for him to retire than he is; among the football world, it’s quite known that when the footy season is on, the partners do take on a lot more of the responsibility of parenting and life because there’s very little flexibility in their schedules and the fixture and all of that. I have so much respect for any woman, or man, who is married to a professional athlete.
“I’m his wife… and I want to support him in following his dreams and goals. Football careers don’t go on forever. The kids are just starting to understand football and go to the games, and the fact that we get to have another year of that is really, really exciting. It was a big decision.
“He was 50-50 all along – some days, he’d wake up and he was on one side of the fence. The next day, he’d be back on the other side. He was able to come to that decision in his own time and on his own terms.
“It’s going to be a good year, next year.”
Jesinta has also revealed the family has relocated to the Gold Coast this summer.
“My family is there,” she said.
“We’ve got an apartment… We love the lifestyle, the fact that it’s slower-paced and we can spend our days on the beach and riding our bikes. We’ll have a bit of a sea change for a couple of months and switch off – I’ll go back and forth [to Sydney] for work a bit.”
Buddy Franklin will be back for pre-season training with the Swans in November.
After a six-month contract saga, Franklin eventually signed a one-year extension that will see him through to the end of 2023.
— Stellar is available in News Corp’s The Sunday Telegraph (NSW), Sunday Herald Sun (Victoria), The Sunday Mail (Queensland), and Sunday Mail (SA)
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