Who is Lance Franklins most difficult opponent ?

[Strapping Young Lad]

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

Nailed it.

 

[asanque]

Umpires and MRP

 

[cambosis]

Harry Taylor and Tom Lonergan.

Frankling has Lonergan's measure by a long way...

QF 2011: 8 Kicks 4 goals 3 behinds (in 3 qtrs)
Rd 12: 15 Disposals 4 Goals 2 behinds

I havent seen Harry Taylor play on him for more than a few minutes for a long time.

 

[Off The Couch]

Nailed it.

+1

Buddy is very much a confidence player and at times plays into the oppositions hands - needs to recognize it earlier and then keep mixing it up.

In saying that though of all the defenders McPharlin is the one closest to being able to play on him regardless of what does to change it.

 

[Number 24]

There are so many really good backmen out there it is impossible to name then. So good are they that Buddy only kicks between 80 - 100 goals a season whilst playing high up the ground in most games. Add to that about just as many behinds and the backmen are keeping him to about 160 - 200 scoring pings a season.

Well done all you backmen out there !!

 

[Off The Couch]

There are so many really good backmen out there it is impossible to name then. So good are they that Buddy only kicks between 80 - 100 goals a season whilst playing high up the ground in most games. Add to that about just as many behinds and the backmen are keeping him to about 160 - 200 scoring pings a season.

Well done all you backmen out there !!

You wear sarcasm so beautifully N24

 

[The Kipster]

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

he sure did, to be honest he was outstanding that night and leading into that game...it was a shite night weather wise

 

[cattas09]

Lonergan plays buddy alot better than Harry Taylor does and is the best at the match up in the comp IMO

 

[Strapping Young Lad]

There are so many really good backmen out there it is impossible to name then. So good are they that Buddy only kicks between 80 - 100 goals a season whilst playing high up the ground in most games. Add to that about just as many behinds and the backmen are keeping him to about 160 - 200 scoring pings a season.

Well done all you backmen out there !!

Quality post this one.

Most opposition supporters are generally happy if Buddy is kept to 5 goals.

Essendon supporters are the funniest though when it comes to Franklin, some of them still try to peddle the "Ryder is a great match up for Franklin".
I do hope James and Bomber try that out a few more times in future....I love to watch Franko kick big bags of goals.

 

[Chops_a_must]

There are so many really good backmen out there it is impossible to name then. So good are they that Buddy only kicks between 80 - 100 goals a season whilst playing high up the ground in most games. Add to that about just as many behinds and the backmen are keeping him to about 160 - 200 scoring pings a season.

Well done all you backmen out there !!

There is much truth in this sarcasm.

But also why McPharlin is so successful. He is able to match his running ability and roaming up the ground, and on most occassions, actually wins more of the ball and rebounds off him, as well as limiting his scoring through close checking and spoiling with similar reach.

 

[Prudster]

Lonergan plays buddy alot better than Harry Taylor does and is the best at the match up in the comp IMO

No he's not. Even if you don't take into account that Lonergan gets a lot of help, and Buddy is usually double teamed, Mcpharlin and Bock still do better than he does.

 

[Hodgepodge]

Lonergan plays buddy alot better than Harry Taylor does and is the best at the match up in the comp IMO

Lonergan had one good game on him and has been beaten twice since. The Round 5 performance was one of Franklin's worst, he probably got a rocket for trying to get too much easy ball and not going up for marks.

 

[JoeHawk]

One on one I reckon Buddy can beat anyone especially once the ball hits the ground. It's the double/triple tagging that gets him undone.....as it would anyone else.

 

[ekel92]

scarlett vs Franklin used to be a great spectacle. Its a pity we haven't seen it since about 2008 and even then it was in small doses. Flankins just too tall and athletic for scarlo, can 50/50 it in the strength department. As i would assume most of you would have seen the 08 granny numerous times, watch the the small battles between scarlo and frankin. Quality viewing.

Bock and Mcpharlin are awesome defenders and are > than harry T as a pure CHB

 

[ekel92]

sorry for trolling too, there just isnt much going on our board... or any for that matter. Just cant get enough of footy

 

[Collins-Langford-Ayres]

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

Completely agree djb. When Buddy learns to fully play to his strengths, it's Brownlow time.

 

[Brown n Gold]

scarlett vs Franklin used to be a great spectacle. Its a pity we haven't seen it since about 2008 and even then it was in small doses. Flankins just too tall and athletic for scarlo, can 50/50 it in the strength department. As i would assume most of you would have seen the 08 granny numerous times, watch the the small battles between scarlo and frankin. Quality viewing.

Bock and Mcpharlin are awesome defenders and are > than harry T as a pure CHB

Scarlett hasn't played more than an hour on Franklin in their careers...

 

[hawk life]

Bock wins this hands down. One on one he is the hardest to beat very underrated. Not only has bock beaten him but will also get 20+ touches.

 

[m0zza]

Scarlett hasn't played more than an hour on Franklin in their careers...

2008 GF comes to mind

 

[Milkman_Joe]

Lake used to always do well on Buddy. Especially when Buddy would try and wrestle him one on one..

 

[apiro]

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

Bingo!

I would think just about all defenders would dread playing on Buddy including all of the ones named in previous posts. The thing with Buddy is that despite the above shortcoming, every defender knows that he only needs to do a few things right in a short space of time to take the game away from them.

 

[Watson_my_mind]

Paddy Ryder dominates Franklin, having kept him to only two bags of 9


Definitely the best match up.

Cale Hooker also keeps Franklin to bags of 5, (technically bags of 3, because long running goals down the boundary line along the wing are not a defenders fault)

 

[you pick one]

It's a poor back 6 that has one of it's members caught one out to often on Lance Franklin.
The game hasn't been played like that for 20 years.

Merry Christmas Hawkers.

 

[krisholio14]

Frankling has Lonergan's measure by a long way...

QF 2011: 8 Kicks 4 goals 3 behinds (in 3 qtrs)
Rd 12: 15 Disposals 4 Goals 2 behinds

I havent seen Harry Taylor play on him for more than a few minutes for a long time.

With all due respects, we are the only team Buddy has never really gotten hold of.

And as far as i'm concerned, considering how many looks he gets generally, i'm happy if we can keep him to around 6 or 7 shots.

 

[kazzooka]

It's a poor back 6 that has one of it's members caught one out to often on Lance Franklin.
The game hasn't been played like that for 20 years.

Merry Christmas Hawkers.

Exactly this. Even mediocre forwards will kick bags on the best defenders when left one out too often. The Back-men is at a disadvantage of having to be reactionary to the forwards lead and the ball being kicked to their advantage.

James Frawley is a great defender, but the Melbourne defence is so inept at functioning as a unit and helping each other they leak goals like a sieve.