News LANCE Franklin, one of the greatest players in the history of the game, has announced his retirement, effectively immediately.

[_Mike_]

LANCE Franklin, one of the greatest players in the history of the game, has announced his retirement, effectively immediately.

The 36-year-old informed his teammates on Monday that his decorated career is over.

The news comes after he injured his calf in Saturday night's win over Essendon.


Franklin confirmed the news with an Instagram post alongside a photo of Alastair Clarkson and John Longmire, his two AFL coaches.


"What a journey. Thanks to everyone who has been on this crazy ride with me," he wrote.

Courtesy: ALF.com.au

 

[TheEscapeClub]

At FF against the likes of Scott Turner, Mick Martyn and Ronnie McEwen with the 1:1 style of football and the open forward lines there is no way in the wide world that Buddy wouldn’t have kicked 200 goals a season.

It would have been carnage.

...you forgot Danny Hughes.

 

[ibd77]

Dead.Set.Legend.

 

[threesixpio]

I am talking marriage. If Buddy and Hodge got married people would look at Hodge and tell him that he managed to bat above his average

Buddy would be swipe left every day of the week for Hodge. We all would

 

[Engimal v3]

I saw his "THIRTEEN" game first hand, unfortunately. One of the best to ever do it in my lifetime.

 

[STRONGandBALD]

it was a good goal.. but one of the best goals of all time?? Cmon.. I can think of many players in that exact position who could have run on to kick a goal

Think I’m going crazy but I actually agree with you 100% here. Pretty overrated goal, they are very common and the difficulty isn’t insane. Maybe 7/10 for me.

 

[geelong_crazy26]

Think I’m going crazy but I actually agree with you 100% here. Pretty overrated goal, they are very common and the difficulty isn’t insane. Maybe 7/10 for me.

Things must be crazy if we agree!!

Don’t get me wrong it was a good goal.. but the original post I replied to with this goal was claiming we had never seen anything like this and never will see anything like this again… seriously??

It showed more endurance than anything. The angle was tricky but he had alot of time to steady and slot it. Those angles have always been franklins bread and butter as well with his natural swing right to left.

 

[PerthBoy86]

What a legend, lucky to have witnessed his amazing career. Hard to believe I was a teenager when he debuted, and I'm 37 now. Gave us so many highlights - even if the Eagles were often on the receiving end. Proud he's a WA boy too, as many of the greats were/are.

 

[Sully111]

One of a kind. Loved watching him play. Absolute champion of our game.

 

[BloodRet]

Things must be crazy if we agree!!

Don’t get me wrong it was a good goal.. but the original post I replied to with this goal was claiming we had never seen anything like this and never will see anything like this again… seriously??

It showed more endurance than anything. The angle was tricky but he had alot of time to steady and slot it. Those angles have always been franklins bread and butter as well with his natural swing right to left.

What are some better goals in the last 10-15 years, just out of interest?

 

[Rotayjay]

An element of his 1,000th goal celebration comes to mind - the SCG played the song 'There goes my hero, watch him as he goes'

 

[Rotayjay]

******* legend. I'll never forget running on to the ground for his 1000th goal. ******* Legend

That's a high privilege - cherish the memory. A lot of us opposition supporters wish we were there.

 

[STRONGandBALD]

What are some better goals in the last 10-15 years, just out of interest?

This, GAJ also did a similar one.




Sent from my iPhone using BigFooty.com

 

[Rotayjay]

It really is the end of an era because think of this: if you're eighteen now, you would have only just been born or been in the womb when Franklin played his first game. There is a whole generation that has never known the game without him.

 

[Wolfgang West]

An element of his 1,000th goal celebration comes to mind - the SCG played the song 'There goes my hero, watch him as he goes'

Apt.

 

[Wolfgang West]

You always have to compare players with other players of their own era.

Lockett, for as amazing as he was, was not that much better than Dunstall, or Ablett Snr in terms of goal kicking. Buddy though, he kicked 30% more goals than any other player in his era. Locket did not do that.

Lockett missed 99 games through injury and suspension. He was comfortably in front of Dunstall and Ablett.

 

[p4p1]

Lockett missed 99 games through injury and suspension. He was comfortably in front of Dunstall and Ablett.

Played more games than both. Ablett only played as a FF in the last part of his career.

 

[The Dougster]

Legend of the game. All the best Buddy

 

[Highly Evolved]

Absolute champion. Always destroyed the Bombers, but sometimes it was even fun to watch him do it.

 

[The Cryptkeeper]

Lockett missed 99 games through injury and suspension. He was comfortably in front of Dunstall and Ablett.

Dunstall gave away a couple of hundred goals that Lockett didn't. But Lockett played in inferior teams.

There are plenty of pro's and con's when comparing Lockett, Ablett and Dunstall. I don't think it is even possible to rank them. I am happy just to bracket them together and be content that they were all more or less as good as each other depending on the day.

And I am also quite happy to put Franklin alongside them as a legendary forward and in the top handful of players we have seen. Only GAJ has any claims to being his equal in the 21st century. Those two stand head and shoulders above their contemporaries.

 

[greatwhiteshark]

Bigfooty sometimes creaks under the strain and gets hard to access during big finals. Tonight, it did the same.

That speaks volumes about the man and how important he is to the game.

Congratulations Lance on your career!

Franklin absolutely tore us a new one many times. He'll definitely be elevated to Legend status in the Hall of Fame as soon as he's eligible.

Reckon that might of been the cricket

 

[The Cryptkeeper]

Really? How about kicking for goal, the most important one, for starters?

An 80s Franklin wouldn't be running down the wing constantly because he wouldn't be on a modern day fitness program and he certainly wouldn't have the same diet. Then there's the fact that he wouldn't have access to modern-day technology all clubs take for granted, which is massive. That's the thing people forget when picking players from different eras - they have to adapt to the circumstances of that era. And by 80s Buddy, does one mean he instantly time-travels to that era as is, or a Buddy that was born 20-30 years earlier?

How many do you think Buddy kicks with an open 50 being stood by treacle slow Mick Martyn? Or the joker that was Scott Turner? Silvagni may, just may be able to go with Franklin at times but he'd have to be having a very good day.

I get that players have to adapt to the style of their era, the tech and the training methods but when you look at Lockett, Dunstall, Ablett, etc well Buddy was simply bigger, faster, stronger and more skilled. Some of that can be put down to the above but not enough for the aforementioned legends to bridge the gap in genetics.

 

[HarryBeef]

I know a lot gets made of his Hooker Running Goals.

But this one is one of my faves (Part of a Lazy 8 in a Qualifying final), and on Bwian Lake too...

So sad we didn't get to see Cyril for another few years. Also, those white patches on the back of your tops are horrible.

 

[greatwhiteshark]

How many do you think Buddy kicks with an open 50 being stood by treacle slow Mick Martyn? Or the joker that was Scott Turner? Silvagni may, just may be able to go with Franklin at times but he'd have to be having a very good day.

I get that players have to adapt to the style of their era, the tech and the training methods but when you look at Lockett, Dunstall, Ablett, etc well Buddy was simply bigger, faster, stronger and more skilled. Some of that can be put down to the above but not enough for the aforementioned legends to bridge the gap in genetics.

Nothing wrong with Ablett snr's genetics, christ only knows what he would of done with the modern training and access the modern player has now. Scary the thought of it. He could also mark above his head, and there is nothing Buddy could do that Ablett couldn't do on either side of his body.

I don't see any point trying top put down players from previous eras, Buddy played AFL, the others Played Aussie rules. Two different sports. They are all guns playing the sport of their era.

 

[The Cryptkeeper]

Nothing wrong with Ablett snr's genetics, christ only knows what he would of done with the modern training and access the modern player has now. Scary the thought of it. He could also mark above his head, and there is nothing Buddy could do that Ablett couldn't do on either side of his body.

I don't see any point trying top put down players from previous eras, Buddy played AFL, the others Played Aussie rules. Two different sports. They are all guns playing the sport of their era.

Yeah, I accept that. Ablett was something of a freak who would have been a success in 2023.

But equally, plenty are prepared to downplay Franklin's achievements because he didn't kick as many goals as the others. Put any of those ton a year full forwards into 2023 and even with today's methods they are not putting up the numbers they were 30-35 years ago. So it is only fair to compare in the reverse if people want to keep trotting out the ignorant "the older we get, the better we were" trope.

So point taken about comparing eras. However, if you compare players against their contemporaries who played similar roles then it is factually correct to say that Franklin is so far ahead of the next best forward of the 21st century that there is no credible discussion. The same cannot be said for Lockett if he is the benchmark of that era.

On that basis I will argue that people who are hard and fast that Lockett was better, or Ablett was better, or Dunstall was better are absolutely dismissing just how great Franklin was.

He'd be a giant in any era.

 

[Foxx]

And didn't get chaired off.
One of the few players worthy of it.