Strapping Young Lad
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- Apr 19, 2006
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Let's be honest, Tim Lane is an annoyingly biased Carlton supporter who makes watching football very tedious at times, but in this instance he's written a story of 'man-love' about the one and only, Budwah, and it's quite a good read.
Take note of the special consideration he's given to how Franklin is umpired. This being written from a nuetral perspective can only be a good thing.
http://www.theage.com.au/afl/afl-news/a-knockout-buddy-ali-20120317-1vcaf.html?rand=1331990078477
Take note of the special consideration he's given to how Franklin is umpired. This being written from a nuetral perspective can only be a good thing.
http://www.theage.com.au/afl/afl-news/a-knockout-buddy-ali-20120317-1vcaf.html?rand=1331990078477
AT THE end of a week in which the future of indigenous players in the indigenous game has been under examination, Lance Franklin stands as a towering beacon. What every club would give for him: the greatest single match-winner and greatest single drawcard in the game in one brown and gold package.
Yet clubs were tentative about taking Buddy. It's etched in football folklore that Franklin made them nervous and that's why he went at pick five, rather than one, in the 2004 draft. Notwithstanding seven successful seasons, rumours have abounded about lifestyle extravagances. But just as the stories have kept coming, so have the heroics.
No sooner had news emerged of a relationship break-up late last year than a newspaper report suggested Buddy was "off the rails". Yet the wheels appear to remain firmly fixed to the chassis. In late January, The Age's Jon Pierik reported that Buddy was in Hawthorn's leadership group. Seven years after that oft-discussed '04 draft, to say Franklin is No. 1 among those of his year is like saying Black Caviar is the best five-year old sprinting mare on the local scene.