Past #23 Buddy Franklin - Thanks Buddy

How long will Buddy play for Sydney?

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Lance Franklin
Lance Franklin is a giant of the game. The star Sydney Swans forward has played 300 AFL games, won two premierships with Hawthorn, is the seventh-greatest goal-kicker in VFL/AFL history, is one of just five men with eight All Australian blazers and is the most recent player to have kicked 100 goals in a season. The Western Australian is also one of just two players in the game’s history, along with former Swan and Saint Tony Lockett, to have booted 300 goals for two clubs. Franklin was added to a leadership group for the first time in his career ahead of season 2020, joining co-captains Josh Kennedy, Luke Parker and Dane Rampe, as well as Callum Mills. But the 33-year-old, who was named captain of the 2018 All Australian team, has long been considered an exceptional unofficial leader, so great is his impact on Will Hayward, Nick Blakey, Ben Ronke and the rest of Sydney’s young forwards.

Lance Franklin
DOB: 30 January 1987
DEBUT: 2005
DRAFT: #5, 2004 National Draft
RECRUITED FROM: Dowerin (WA)/Perth (WAFL)/Hawthorn

www.sydneyswans.com.au

Lance Franklin | AFL

Follow Lance Franklin's progress through AFL
www.sydneyswans.com.au www.sydneyswans.com.au
 
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Superstar swan said:
I for one don't believe he should go on next year, but given his age, standing in the game, likelihood of a flag etc I'd guess his family would be the overriding factor. Of coarse it has to be initiated by the club, if they want him to retire the discussion moot, but on buddy's end I could understand the decision isn't entirely in his hands
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Big decision, of course his desires get discussed at least with Jesinta! If he wants to retire it's easy. If he wants go on and she's on board then the club needs to be on board too. Lots of respectful discussion but at the end of the day it's up to the club then.
 
ashep said:
Would comfortably be best 22 next year ahead of McLean, Amartey and Buller.
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That's what's occurred to me these past two weeks. And it seems we've come up with a better structure to get the best out of him and Logan.
 

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I think we just need bodies next year. I suspect he would have missed a couple of games earlier in the season if McDonald/Amartey/Reid etc were available but he played injured to help out.

If he is back on a reasonable salary and we plan on playing him say 15-18 times prior to finals I am good with that.
 
caesar88 said:
IMO we're mad if we sign him again. The bad games have outweighed the good games this year and that'll only keep trending one way.

We will be fine without him I reckon.
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Have they been bad in context though? Played through bad illness in a game or two, struggled with injury but played because we had no choice, now has strung some great games together once he's past it. As I said, would need another 2-3 of this to consider it.
 
I'd love him to go around again, the club has been spoilt for having all time legends of the game (lockett- Goodes - buddy), but the future looks bleak in that regard. If he wants to go again and a sensible agreement can be made by all means go around again.
 
SM said:
Have they been bad in context though? Played through bad illness in a game or two, struggled with injury but played because we had no choice, now has strung some great games together once he's past it. As I said, would need another 2-3 of this to consider it.
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Sound like standard things a 36 year old has to play through though, so yeah they were bad in my opinion. I also think his "great" games should be looked at in context. A few impressive performances on Ryan Gardner and Alex Pearce who forwards have been having field days against is hardly compelling.

On a bigger picture scale, I'm just ready to move on from Buddy. I'm ready to give opportunities to our forwards who are all under 25 instead of giving them to a forward who will be 37. I'm ready to see a midfield that has a forward connection that consists of more than just "bomb it to Buddy."
 
If he wants to go around again, he'll have to take another big paycut. He's not out kicking bags of 6, 7, 8 goals like he was in his prime. Might be able to play a role, but I kinda wanna see McDonald being the focal point sooner rather than later.
 
caesar88 said:
Sound like standard things a 36 year old has to play through though, so yeah they were bad in my opinion. I also think his "great" games should be looked at in context. A few impressive performances on Ryan Gardner and Alex Pearce who forwards have been having field days against is hardly compelling.

On a bigger picture scale, I'm just ready to move on from Buddy. I'm ready to give opportunities to our forwards who are all under 25 instead of giving them to a forward who will be 37. I'm ready to see a midfield that has a forward connection that consists of more than just "bomb it to Buddy."
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Illness is a standard thing a 36 year old has to play through? I mean, sure, I suppose so, but so does a 26 year old. Should Heeney retire because he's struggled with injury this year? His "great" games are irrespective of his direct opponent which is a pretty outdated way of viewing a forward's game anyway. His contested marking, forward pressure, and presence around the ground has been amplified in recent weeks, blind Freddy can see that.

Who is currently missing out on opportunities because of Buddy? On the weekend all four of he, Logan, Amartey and McLean played. Is McAndrew or Buller not getting a guaranteed game a week the worst thing in the world?
 

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This may be an out there view. But buddy could absolutely play another year if he managed to drop somewhere between 5-10kg over the off-season (10kg obviously being the extreme).

I was hoping he came into 2023 having shed some weight but unfortunately that wasn't the case. But if he dedicated himself with a strict diet he could absolutely go around again in 2024.

Think along the lines of a lockets transformation but a little less extreme.
 
Despite the last 2 weeks he has still dropped off significantly this year.
Let the young guys own the forward line. It's time. They have been playing in his shadows for several years (understandably). It's time for a new look in the forward line. We've had a glimpse this year when Buddy has been injured and our forward line has functioned well without him.
 
Swans22 said:
Despite the last 2 weeks he has still dropped off significantly this year.
Let the young guys own the forward line. It's time. They have been playing in his shadows for several years (understandably). It's time for a new look in the forward line. We've had a glimpse this year when Buddy has been injured and our forward line has functioned well without him.
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In the games he's missed this year have they still played in his shadow? Because they haven't performed.
 
SM said:
In the games he's missed this year have they still played in his shadow? Because they haven't performed.
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Not true. Both Amartey and Logan have had some good games when Buddy hasn’t played. Absolutely they have gone missing in some games but hasn’t everyone this year (including Buddy). Young key forward tend to be less consistent and take longer to develop, keeping Buddy will only slow this development down and not allow these guys to take the next step. And to what end - is Buddy going to turn back the clock at the age of 37? He has relied on his speed, agility, as a 6’6 guy who has never been a great contested grab, he is now relying on this. Listen if he can play like he played last week for the rest of the year then let’s consider it but I’d be surprised if he can keep it up. And this is no discredit to Buddy… he is the oldest player in the comp and you can see it.
 
If Buddy wanted to go around again, Horse and the club would absolutely be kidding themselves if they looked him in the eye and said he wasn't required.

Amartey and McLean have been in the system for years. The idea that they're suddenly going to step up doesn't hold water.

Even in Buddy's down games, he's still often looked like our most dangerous key forward. I understand that we play differently when he's in the side but you can't end a player's career because the rest of our brain-dead players can't help bomb it to him when they shouldn't.
 
Swans22 said:
Not true. Both Amartey and Logan have had some good games when Buddy hasn’t played. Absolutely they have gone missing in some games but hasn’t everyone this year (including Buddy). Young key forward tend to be less consistent and take longer to develop, keeping Buddy will only slow this development down and not allow these guys to take the next step. And to what end - is Buddy going to turn back the clock at the age of 37? He has relied on his speed, agility, as a 6’6 guy who has never been a great contested grab, he is now relying on this. Listen if he can play like he played last week for the rest of the year then let’s consider it but I’d be surprised if he can keep it up. And this is no discredit to Buddy… he is the oldest player in the comp and you can see it.
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Emphasis on the some. And I was talking specifically about this year. Also please don't cite the Hawks game as an example as that was when they were at their lowest ebb. In subsequent games no forward has stood up in Buddy's absence. Keeping Buddy will absolutely not slow their development down as it's not denying them games and they're getting plenty of the footy and chances. In fact it actually helps as they aren't having to play on the best defender immediately.
 
ashep said:
If Buddy wanted to go around again, Horse and the club would absolutely be kidding themselves if they looked him in the eye and said he wasn't required.

Amartey and McLean have been in the system for years. The idea that they're suddenly going to step up doesn't hold water.

Even in Buddy's down games, he's still often looked like our most dangerous key forward. I understand that we play differently when he's in the side but you can't end a player's career because the rest of our brain-dead players can't help bomb it to him when they shouldn't.
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Spot on.
 
ashep said:
If Buddy wanted to go around again, Horse and the club would absolutely be kidding themselves if they looked him in the eye and said he wasn't required.

Amartey and McLean have been in the system for years. The idea that they're suddenly going to step up doesn't hold water.

Even in Buddy's down games, he's still often looked like our most dangerous key forward. I understand that we play differently when he's in the side but you can't end a player's career because the rest of our brain-dead players can't help bomb it to him when they shouldn't.
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This. I was really hoping that this year we'd see him basically transitioned out of the side because one of Amartey or Mclean had stepped up as a key forward. It hasn't happened and doesn't really look like happening in the short term.
 
SM said:
Emphasis on the some. And I was talking specifically about this year. Also please don't cite the Hawks game as an example as that was when they were at their lowest ebb. In subsequent games no forward has stood up in Buddy's absence. Keeping Buddy will absolutely not slow their development down as it's not denying them games and they're getting plenty of the footy and chances. In fact it actually helps as they aren't having to play on the best defender immediately.
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Buddy has kicked 19 goals in 12 games. Compare this to his prior years. It’s a huge drop off.
Logan has kicked 24 in 14 games
I wonder how many times Buddy has been targeted to reach those goals v Logan? On complete speculation, maybe 3 or 4 times more, but whatever it is it’s much more.
 
Swans22 said:
Buddy has kicked 19 goals in 12 games. Compare this to his prior years. It’s a huge drop off.
Logan has kicked 24 in 14 games
I wonder how many times Buddy has been targeted to reach those goals v Logan? On complete speculation, maybe 3 or 4 times more, but whatever it is it’s much more.
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Again, in maybe 4-5 of those 12 games he was playing under duress, whether a bad illness that Longmire spoke about, or issues with his knee, that he has now overcome. Put another way, he's kicked 7 in his last 3 games, that's a pretty decent return. And that was against the Dogs, Tigers and Freo, who are all arguably mid-table and reasonably quality opposition.
 
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