Lance Franklin sent a shiver down the spine and got a generation interested in his game at the Sydney Swans

Exactly a decade ago, the Sydney Swans signed their 32,452nd member, a new record. For a club that, in the bad old days, could only dream of being a basket case (thanks Roy and HG), it was some achievement. Then chief executive Andrew Ireland said that one day the Swans aspired to reach 40,000.

Months later, Sydney signed Lance Franklin on a nine-year deal. A couple of months after that, they hit 40,000 members. Today, there are 62,000 Swans members – two for every one in that record-breaking…