Who is Lance Franklins most difficult opponent ?

[cuttlefish]

He's about the most revered player in AFL at the moment, but who does he struggle against. Who do you think could shut him down now or in years to come ?

 

[BRG93]

He's about the most revered player in AFL at the moment, but who does he struggle against. Who do you think could shut him down now or in years to come ?

Not being bias or anything but I think at his best Brian Lake could shut him down

 

[thecatattack]

Harry Taylor and Tom Lonergan.

 

[Henry Jr]

Not being bias or anything but I think at his best Brian Lake could shut him down

Like he did in the 2008 Qual Final?

 

[Mitchell Madness]

The umpires

 

[spudmaster]

Look at our backline - our recruiting strategy goes something like "draft those who can stop Lance to allow him easier goals next time we meet, and if they can stop Lance, they can stop anyone" (may not be true)

Longergan does a decent job.

 

[Sabtaj]

Haha def the umps but Silvagni toweled him up so will be interesting to see that match up again next year.

 

[Chops_a_must]

Haha def the umps but Silvagni toweled him up so will be interesting to see that match up again next year.

McPharlin usually plays on him, and athletically is one of the better match ups he has. I think statistically, he has gone pretty well on him as well.

 

[cantos_tevez]

The Geelong backline and Chris Tarrant.

The only other one who gave him a bath on the stats sheet was Maxy Hudgton, but when you watch the replays, he is just absolutely all over him all the time, getting away with absolute murder.

 

[savagelunchbox]

His most difficult opponent can sometimes be the club's own midfield. At times they just decide to bomb the ball long into the forward line making Buddy less effective as he isn't a contested marker.

 

[WWSD]

Harry Taylor and Tom Lonergan.

Not next year they won't be! Franklin Roughead and Gunston wow. Try stoping that Scarlett Taylor and Lonergan

In seriousness Franklin toughest opponent is probably Scarlett.

 

[cuttlefish]

So far we have:

Brian Lake

The Cats (Harry Taylor & Tom Lonergan)

Silvagni, Mc Pharlin (ie Freo)

Max Hudgton

Chris Tarrant

...and an observation made by savagelunchbox...

 

[Hodgepodge]

McPharlin usually plays on him, and athletically is one of the better match ups he has. I think statistically, he has gone pretty well on him as well.

McPharlin I think is the only key backman I've seen actually shut him down 1 on 1, fair and square.

Kept him to 2 in the EF 2010.

The others have only done a job under certain conditions. A lot of buts coming up . . .
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Massie did a job on him one night, but it was in a thrashing of Hawthorn, and Franklin never does well in Adelaide for some reason. I think his highest goal tally there is 2.
Hudghton beat Franklin that PF but he broke his thumb in the first quarter.
Tarrant kept him to 1 goal with a lot of help.
Lonergan kept him to 3 with the same deal.
Bower kept an underdone Franklin to 2 in 2009, Lake kept him to 0 goals under the same proviso, Bolton to 2 goals.
Davis kept him to 1 goal . . . but 7 behinds shows that it was inaccuracy more than anything.
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Really only McPharlin that I can think of has consistently done well on him with no intervening circumstances helping him out.

 

[Dan]

Gibson used to go alright against Buddy.

 

[Hodgepodge]

Gibson used to go alright against Buddy.

Eh, not really. He kept him to 1 goal once, but apart from that he was a pretty standard opponent.

 

[harliquin]

Haha def the umps but Silvagni toweled him up so will be interesting to see that match up again next year.

That's an absolute fallacy.

Firstly, it was absolutely BUCKETING down that night, which certainly doesn't help the tall blokes.

Secondly, Franklin had 19 disposals, 10(!) Contested possessions, 3 behinds, 2 I50, and a number of goal assists.

Just because he didn't get anything in the goals column doesn't mean he was "towelled up".

Hale was the only big man to kick multiple goals that night.

It reminds me of those games in 2008/2009 where Franklin would kick 2 goals 8, and the media would pump up his opponent as if he was soundly beaten. if that read 8 goals 2, well, I wonder if they'd still be pumping up the opponent.

In those games, the only person who beats Buddy, is Franklin himself.

Silvagni needs to do the same in the dry, and not let buddy dominate in the midfield and set up goals before he "towels him up".

 

[cryptor]

McPharlin closely followed by Lake.

 

[Dan]

Eh, not really. He kept him to 1 goal once, but apart from that he was a pretty standard opponent.

The semi final in 07 stands out for me, he did his best to stick to him like glue but in the end Buddy did kick 3 on him.

 

[Upgrayedd]

Gibson fairly did alright

Hudgeton/Harry Taylor are the only two guys i've seen really bother him, Im sure teams will say anytime Franklin doesn't kick 3 on them it's a win however. Even if he manages to run freely through the midfield while they chase him all day long

 

[Baz_hawk]

I'd say McPharlin is the pick of the lot in this thread.

Lonergan doesn't really beat him, he relies on having support and is beaten without that support. In one game Buddy ran off him and had 2 goals within 10 minutes before the Cats dropped a man back infront of him.

Harry Taylor is 50/50, Buddy still tends to play pretty well against the Cats.

Silvagni is unproven. Did a good job at keeping Franklin goalless however conditions weren't ideal for the big man and he also had a big impact on the game without registering a major.

Lake in his day got the better of Buddy. I was watching the 2010 Dogs/Hawks game not too long ago and He was beating Buddy in the 1 on 1's for the first half but then Buddy must have copped an earful at half time because he stepped up in the second half and ran Lake off his feet.

Tarrant has done a reasonable job, but with really only 2 encounters and one game where the Hawks lacked a number of key midfielders its probably to early to say. Tarrant also receives a lot of help and when he didn't get the support on the rare occasion, Buddy beat him.

Those defenders who are good in the air will tend to worry Buddy I'd say, it's probably the weakest aspect of his game and really the defender could bring the ball to ground and Buddy may still kick a goal. Tough being a defender when you do nothing wrong and still cop the blame at the end of the day for letting a forward kick 5.

 

[Roddy]

The umpires

This....

 

[nugs202]

Nobody has mentioned Bock

 

[Dixie Flatline]

Nobody has mentioned Bock

Beaten to the punch...

Bock plays Buddy one on one as well as anyone.

 

[djboonie]

I reckon it's Lance himself.

IMO he doesn't manipulate weaknesses in his opposition quickly, so he'll play into the hands of the defenders. Physically he has all the attributes to beat any defender.

Against the bigger defenders he needs to run and lead instead of wrestling
Against the ball readers/spoilers he needs to run and lead, and not call for it to be plonked on his head
Against the running, smaller defenders he needs to use his height, but again be mobile
Against the Umps he needs to stop looking for free's and let the umps call it as they see it
When he's triple teamed he needs to move up the ground and take the players away from the other key forwards.

Once he starts/stops playing into their hands he'll be more effective

 

[Roddy]

I reckon it's Lance himself.

IMO he doesn't manipulate weaknesses in his opposition quickly, so he'll play into the hands of the defenders. Physically he has all the attributes to beat any defender.

Against the bigger defenders he needs to run and lead instead of wrestling
Against the ball readers/spoilers he needs to run and lead, and not call for it to be plonked on his head
Against the running, smaller defenders he needs to use his height, but again be mobile
Against the Umps he needs to stop looking for free's and let the umps call it as they see it
When he's triple teamed he needs to move up the ground and take the players away from the other key forwards.

Once he starts/stops playing into their hands he'll be more effective

Yep, even when he gets high contact in a marking contest so severe that it knocks his teeth clean out of his head. For Buddy this is apparently 'play on'.