Lance Franklin, one of the AFL’s greatest players, has terrorised his last opposition backline.
Key points:
- Franklin retires as one of six players to kick more than 1,000 goals, booting 580 for the Hawks and 486 for the Swans
- He won two flags with Hawthorn after debuting in 2005, before moving to Sydney in 2014 on a nine-year contract
- The 36-year-old was subbed off in his final AFL match, after suffering a calf injury against the Bombers on Saturday
The legendary Sydney and Hawthorn key forward has retired after injuring his calf in Saturday night’s win over Essendon.
Franklin went to the club to tell his teammates on Monday, but one of the game’s most marketable talents did not join a media conference in the afternoon fronted by coach John Longmire and club chief executive Tom Harley.
“Everyone would have loved to have Lance available — he just doesn’t like these situations,” Longmire said.
Longmire and Harley said that Franklin would eventually speak about his retirement.
Franklin, who won two premierships with the Hawks in 2008 and 2013, belongs in the conversation with Graham “Polly” Farmer and former Swans teammate Adam Goodes as the game’s greatest Indigenous player.
The 36-year-old is fourth on the VFL/AFL leading goalkickers list with 1,066 goals from his 354 games.
The last big highlight of Franklin’s career came last season when he kicked his 1,000th goal, sparking wild celebrations as fans thronged onto the SCG playing surface.
“What a journey. Thanks to everyone who has been on this crazy ride with me,” Franklin said in an Instagram post complete with a photo of him alongside his only two senior coaches, Hawthorn’s Alastair Clarkson and Longmire, taken after the 1,000-goal game.
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Franklin stunned the sport at the end of the 2013 season by signing a massive nine-year deal with the Swans.
He extended that deal by a year in grand final week last season, a few days before Geelong belted the Swans at the MCG.
The Swans managed him through this season as he played 13 games, including the last four in a row, prompting some speculation about whether he might try to keep playing next year.
But after nursing a knee injury through this season, Saturday night’s setback proved the last straw.
“Lance Franklin has been a wonderful player with this football club and in my opinion is the greatest forward of his generation,” Longmire said.
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“He is an absolute freak of nature and we have been lucky enough to have front row seats to one of the best ever to play.
“He is a massive competitor and a wonderful teammate.
“Lance is also an extremely private and humble champion, which makes him even more endearing to those who know him.”
While the Swans never won a flag with Franklin, “Buddy” was their main forward for three grand finals and his star quality gave them a significant boost in the tough Sydney market.
He was an eight-time All-Australian, most recently in 2018, when he was given the extra honour of captaincy.
Asked on stage at the All-Australian function what the skipper would tell his honorary team if they played, Franklin grinned and said “kick it to me”.
It was classic Franklin — a freakishly talented key forward who lit up the game with his on-field exploits.
At his peak, Franklin was unstoppable and his highlights feature some of the best goals in AFL history.
Franklin’s playing honours are elite and he will surely join Farmer as a legend in the Australian Football Hall Of Fame.
Along with the two flags and eight All-Australian selections, Franklin finished equal runner-up in the 2014 Brownlow Medal.
Buddy Franklin’s goals across his career
In his 18 seasons from 2005, Franklin was the club leading goalkicker 13 times — six at Hawthorn and seven at Sydney.
He is the most recent player to kick 100 games in a season, with 113 in 2008.
“It’s quite unique that over a 20-year career, Bud only had two coaches,” Clarkson said in a statement.
“It speaks of his loyalty, dedication and mateship that he retires an icon of the game, and a hero of two clubs that he helped make great in his time at each.
“His feats as a player are extraordinary, and this has run parallel to his emergence as a great husband, father and mate. He is selfless, humble, loyal and proud.
“He has set a current day watermark that I believe will be unsurpassed, and the game will miss his theatre and drawing power. I feel privileged to share some of his journey. I know his Hawks teammates feel exactly the same.”
AAP
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