Greater Western Sydney have pulled out of the race to sign Hawthorn’s superstar forward Lance Franklin and fired a parting shot at Sydney for making a significantly higher offer.

GWS announced on Tuesday they had withdrawn their offer to the dual-premiership free agent after receiving advice from Franklin’s agent Liam Pickering that the superstar forward was headed to the Swans.

While the Giants had been reportedly offering Franklin $12 million over six years, GWS chief executive David Matthews says that figure is way off the mark – instead suggesting the Giants offered $7.2 million over the same period.

And Matthews says the Giants simply weren’t prepared to throw the cash at Franklin at the expense of the overall playing list.

Newspaper reports have suggested Franklin could earn at least $7 million over five years at the Swans.

“We put forward what we believed to be both a sensible and attractive offer to Franklin,” Matthews said in a statement.

“Contrary to media reports, that offer was $1.2 million a year over six years.

“It appears he has a significantly higher financial offer which we would not have been prepared to make based on our due diligence.

“We have every confidence in our list management strategy but we cannot compromise it for the sake of one individual.

“We have been patient and shown a lot of respect through the process. This decision now allows us to pursue other options during the forthcoming trade period.

“With the right experienced players alongside the likes of (young key forwards) Jeremy Cameron and Jonathan Patton we have every confidence we can achieve significant on field improvement in the years to come.”