THE SCRAPPING of the Sydney Swans’ cost of living allowance is unjust punishment for luring superstar Lance Franklin, the club's co-captain Kieren Jack says.
Jack says he's irked at a belief that the Swans used their controversial allowance to sign Franklin on a nine-year, $10 million contract.
"It does annoy me," Jack told AAP in Adelaide on Wednesday.
"We took a massive risk, offering a nine-year deal.
"If other teams wanted to do that, they could have offered a nine-year deal too but no-one was prepared to do it.
"(Sydney chief executive) Andrew Ireland said if we didn't take the risk and we didn't get Buddy, we would still have the cost of living allowance.
"But we took a nine-year risk and we picked him up and we're really happy we got him.
"But now we have suffered because of that and they're taking the allowance away."
The AFL on Tuesday night decided to phase out the allowance, after rival clubs protested the Swans getting 9.8 per cent more in their salary cap to compensate for high living costs in the NSW capital.
"It is disappointing from a playing point of view," Jack said.
"I certainly know how hard it is to live in Sydney, not if you're an established player and you're already earning OK money, it's all right. But younger players coming in, they really struggle.
"The cost of living allowance has been around for 20 years so I don't know why all of a sudden it has now become a big issue.
"It's a tool used for equalisation.
"Look at all the stats and Sydney is a lot more expensive to live than any other city. That is how we saw it and that is what we used it for."
