THE SYDNEY Swans are confident Buddy Franklin will follow the same path as some other former 'bad boys' and fall into line with the club's culture and standards.
 
Tony Lockett, Barry Hall and Rhyce Shaw are among the players that had various behavioural issues at other clubs, only to reform their ways when they joined the harbour city outfit.
 
Hall would ultimately slip up and be sacked from the club, having lost the trust of the playing group and coaches due to repeated on-field indiscretions.
 
When he was signed ahead of the 2012 season, Mitch Morton spent the majority of the year in the reserves trying to learn the defensive principles demanded by the club.
 
Once he did, he ended up playing a key role in that year's premiership victory.
 
Franklin, who has had his fair share of off-field issues, will be treated like every other 'Blood' if the AFL approves his nine-year, $10 million contract offer.
 
"He'll be like all the other players that have come to our footy club – Rhyce Shaw, Barry Hall and all those guys," Swans co-captain Jarrad McVeigh said.
 
"They've thrived in this culture and the city of Sydney.
 
"He'll be no different to any other player. There's no special treatment at this footy club – from Goodesy down to the first-year player
 
"We're all treated the same and I think that's the way it should be."
 
There have been whispers that the Hawks were unimpressed with some of Franklin's behaviour in the days following their premiership triumph.
 
He also has somewhat of a track record, having attracted attention for a verbal altercation with a woman in May this year and being removed from a nightclub for allegedly throwing drinks at two women in 2008.
 
He also lost his licence in July for speeding.
 
McVeigh said there was no concern over Franklin enjoying a drink as long as it was done in the "right environment".
 
"We've got rules in place for all our players and we stick to those, and if players don't then we speak to them," he said.
 
"There's no difference from a 1st-year player to a 10-year player."
 
Retired Swan Jude Bolton, who won the AFLPA's Madden Medal for his contribution to football, family and the community on Friday, said the Swans had caught wind of the interest from Franklin's management early on.
 
He admitted he was surprised the deal looked set to eventuate.
 
However, he said he didn't think the players would begrudge Franklin for the magnitude of his contract.
 
"As a player, all you want to see is someone really putting their effort in and training hard and playing hard," Bolton said.
 
"No one really cares what other guys are on or anything like that.
 
"It's the way you work at training and whether you buy into the culture.
 
"I think that's part of what the strong culture is about; fitting other guys in and we certainly like personalities and we don't create robots up in Sydney.
 
"It's more about celebrating those personalities but buying into what we're about, which is performing on the weekend."
 
Franklin has said he wanted to move to Sydney to escape the glare of Melbourne's spotlight and scrutiny of the media.
 
Bolton said while it was a different environment to the footy-mad Melbourne, Franklin could still expect to be noticed away from the field.
 
"It's a great place to play footy. You certainly enjoy certain benefits and perks of being an AFL footballer and you do escape the limelight a lot," he said.
 
"Certainly guys like Goodesy and the really recognisable guys over the journey still get recognised up in Sydney.
 
"I daresay Buddy is pretty recognisable."