Not disparaging Buddy but his nearest contemporary would be Jack Riewoldt. Already over 600 goals, if he can stay fit I reckon he could play a few more years after Buddy retires (he is two years younger) and maybe end up between 750 and 800 goals and possibly a fourth Coleman Medal too. A lot depends on how his role changes/evolves with Lynch in the side.
Buddy Franklin - 300 Games
- Thread starter TheWhiteRhino
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Not disparaging Buddy but his nearest contemporary would be Jack Riewoldt. Already over 600 goals, if he can stay fit I reckon he could play a few more years after Buddy retires (he is two years younger) and maybe end up between 750 and 800 goals and possibly a fourth Coleman Medal too. A lot depends on how his role changes/evolves with Lynch in the side.
Generational player and deserving of all the recognition he will get this week. From a lover of the game's sake I hope there is another player like him but because he has been a special and gifted individual.
The way the game is played now will be the last player to kick 100 in a season
Ideally would've been a stand alone celebration of Buddy and not linked to a potential farewell for McVeigh and Jack but that's the cards that have been dealt.
Next step is 1,000 goals, would he be the only left footer to kick 1,000?
The way the game is played now will be the last player to kick 100 in a season
Ideally would've been a stand alone celebration of Buddy and not linked to a potential farewell for McVeigh and Jack but that's the cards that have been dealt.
Next step is 1,000 goals, would he be the only left footer to kick 1,000?
- May 5, 2006
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Surely I am not alone here but why is he playing game 300 in Round 23 in a dead rubber against St Kilda?
If they just waited until 2020 the AFL would fixture Sydney vs Hawthorn on a Friday night in Rd 1 or something like that, or even the reverse at the MCG. Given this week means nothing it seems like a bit of an anticlimax for such a great player.
If they just waited until 2020 the AFL would fixture Sydney vs Hawthorn on a Friday night in Rd 1 or something like that, or even the reverse at the MCG. Given this week means nothing it seems like a bit of an anticlimax for such a great player.
Goomba1973
Team Captain
- Aug 13, 2018
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Does not plan on coming back next year?
Or more likely Buddy is such a competitor, and he has been in rehab for a few months now trying to get back on the field that he does not want to wait another 6 months before he can play another game.
Yes, JR is a fine player who really is a team oriented gun forward. I'm not sure 800 goals is all that likely though. He will be 31 in 2 months time and is 'only' on 615. He would need to be a genuine Coleman contender into his mid 30's to get that high which is ridiculously rare.
Regardless of whether Buddy is 200 or 300 goals better than the next best though is immaterial. Jack Riewoldt has been a gun for a long time and definitely in contention for 2nd best of his era. For Buddy to be that much clear of 2nd really emphasises how dominant he has been.
- May 5, 2006
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- 70,019
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Riewoldt, Kennedy and Betts are in the 600 club. Eddie is a small forward and has played a lot more games than the others but still a great effort. Roughead fell just short but played a bit in defence early on and missed a year with cancer. He belongs in the same boat. Tom Hawkins is next back on 550. Jeremy Cameron is the best for goals per game with 2.6. Fevola and Lloyd (played 5 seasons in the 90s) the only overlapping players to match the same sort of output per game.
Franklin is on 940, 321 ahead of the next best current player despite barely playing this year and 200+ ahead of Nick Riewoldt and Matthew Pavlich. Goals are just one metric, but an important one.
The cricket argument for batting is usually 'how much better are you than everyone else'. 3.1 goals per game / 2.6 is 1.19, so on raw numbers Franklin is 19% better than the next best current forward over their career. Steve Smith averages 63.24, so take 19% off that and you get 53 which is pretty bloody good. That's Kohli, Lara, Tendulkar territory. There's only 4 players to play a test in 2019 that have a career average over 50 including Smith.
For a simple way of looking at things by one stat I think it reflects Franklin's standing as a key forward very well. He is the Smith to everyone else's Kohli, Williamson, Root etc.
It would be a genuinely interesting discussion about who was the second best key forward of the 21st century but in terms of best key forward, well it isn't even a debate as we all know the answer.
My vote would be for the other Riewoldt (Nick).
- Jun 16, 2012
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Buddy will be out there next year.
He and the club will want to play this week, to have a promisin and optimistic finish to an otherwise dismal year.
He and the club will want to play this week, to have a promisin and optimistic finish to an otherwise dismal year.
The King!
Chosen One
great of the game, prefer him on my side to kicking our rear ends
The King!
Chosen One
Good onya Budster, hope you kick, a bag 
What a player, he's torched us over the years. I love him.
Surely Paul
Cancelled
- Jul 9, 2017
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Oh Christ.
If buddy was as strong as Carey in the air, he'd be comfortably better then him.
There's a lot Carey couldn't do that Buddy can
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Yep, Buddy is better than him too
craffles
Brownlow Medallist
The 12 years of his career between 2007 and 2018 look amazing on paper, over that period across Sydney and Hawks average something like 3.6 goals a game which is obscene in the modern era.
