One of the best footballers and coaches of all-time Leigh Matthews has known as Lance Franklin the “player of the century” forward of his 350th AFL sport.
Franklin will change into simply the twenty second participant in AFL/VFL historical past to achieve the milestone in Thursday evening’s match between the Swans and St Kilda on the SCG.
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It’s one more monumental milestone for one of many best gamers of the period, however Matthews argues he may be the best, edging out Scott Pendlebury and Gary Ablett Jr. within the legend’s books.
It might be an infinite evening for Franklin, who may additionally transfer into sole possession of fourth on the all-time goalkicking rankings forward of Doug Wade together with his subsequent main taking him to 1058 targets in his profession.
Matthews, who is aware of a factor or two about greatness within the AFL as a four-time premiership winner as a participant, four-time premiership winner as a coach and member of the AFL Team of the Century, instructed 3AW Franklin is the perfect within the trendy period.
“I think this century, he’s the player of the century,” Matthews stated.
“He’s been the common denominator of this century. I think longevity of elite performance is what you’re looking at. He’s played for 19 seasons, so he’s had the longevity, 350 games, 1000+ goals.
“He’s a player who has done the very good, very often and done the remarkable regularly. There is no one who you have gone to the footy to watch who has done the spectacular more than Buddy.
“But not only that, he’s been very good very often so I think he’s just had an incredible almost 20 years in the game. There are no players that played when he started so he’s been remarkable.”
Host Sam McClure stated Matthews had stated comparable about Scott Pendlebury not too long ago and that he’d probably be in the identical class.
But Matthews stated Franklin stands alone.
“(Pendlebury) has played the very good very often but I don’t know whether he’s done the remarkable that often. He hasn’t done the spectacular as much as Buddy would have.
“Players can have great games and great seasons, we’re talking about a great career.
“We can forget about how dominant Gary Ablett Jr. was for his seven or eight years or a decade or so. He won that Player’s Association award about five years in a row.
“It just happens that Buddy’s probably going to be in his last year but you can look back on just the statistical — 1000+ goals in an era where goals are probably twice as valuable in the previous eras. He’s averaged three goals a game not playing as a Lockett, Hudson, Dunstall-type full forward, just as a running forward half player.”
Franklin debuted in 2005 and joined an elite membership of 28 gamers to kick 100 targets in a season in 2008 when he booted 113 targets.
It’s now been 15 years since somebody has joined the membership and it was one thing the boys forward of him on the goalkicking listing — Jason Dunstall (six instances), Gordon Coventry (4) and Tony Lockett (six) — did repeatedly.
Now in his nineteenth season, together with the 2020 season through which he didn’t play a sport by harm, Franklin has confirmed himself over three many years.
But it appears time could lastly be catching up with Franklin. He has simply 10 targets in eight video games in 2023, having not scored in three of his final 4 video games.
And as an alternative of a giant celebration for what’s shaping as the ultimate milestone sport of his illustrious profession, Franklin has opted for a low-key week.
The Herald Sun’s Jon Ralph instructed Fox Footy’s On the Couch on Monday the Swans needed him to do a press convention and one-on-one interviews, however stated: “He’s not on board with the celebration tour”.
Instead he opted for a 13-minute interview with the Swans media and revealed what the milestone means to him.
“It’s a lot of games,” he laughed.
“It’s something I’m very proud of, there’s no doubt about that. To reach 350 games in AFL football is an enormous achievement.
“To play 50 games is a huge achievement, 100 games, 150. To become a life member at two footy clubs is something very special to me and I’m very proud of it.”
Franklin will probably be joined by his household for the milestone with spouse Jesinta, youngsters Tallulah and Rocky to be current however they gained’t run onto the sphere with him.
While he stated he didn’t need to discuss his future, Franklin stated he desires to be remembered as “someone that had a crack … and just had fun”.
“That’s been the biggest thing throughout my journey is that I’ve kept things pretty simple and I think the key has been obviously that enjoyment part,” he stated.
“That’s probably why I’ve lasted so long, because I keep things simple, go out there with a smile on my face and just enjoy it. Whether that’s training, whether that’s doing weights, pilates, just having fun and building strong relationships with everyone here.”
Source: www.news.com.au
