Franklin was ruled out after he accepted a reprimand from the match review panel for rough conduct over a bump laid on Adelaide’s Michael Doughty last Saturday.
“Because it’s all-in betting (no refund), unfortunately for him, his bet lasted less than three days. That was the biggest single investment on the Brownlow this year,” said Gary Davies, of TAB Sportsbet.
Franklin is the second Hawk to be ruled out of contention for football's most prestigious prize after skipper Sam Mitchell became ineligible when he accepted a sanction for tripping during the Hawks’ round nine victory over Melbourne.
Ironically, Mitchell’s withdrawal from Brownlow betting caused a surge in investment for teammate Franklin, with a total of $28,000 being laid on the exciting forward. Franklin was fourth favourite at $9 when betting was suspended on him.
“When Mitchell became ineligible, people thought that that gave [Franklin] a better chance of winning so they might have invested more on him,” said Davies.
Gary Ablett is favourite to take the medal at $2.60, while Bulldog Adam Cooney’s odds have shortened from $101 at the start of the season to second favourite at $4.25.
“The best backed in the last couple of weeks have been Adam Cooney and Matthew Richardson ($8),” Davies said.
“But the smaller punters always like to put $10 or $20 on the players that are priced at 100 to one. They like to have a bit of a flutter on the bigger odds. The smaller punter isn’t interested in backing Ablett or Cooney, or (Lion Simon) Black ($6) at the short odds.”
