Lance Franklin vs Gary Ablett Jnr

Over the course of their careers who has been the better player?

  • Lance Franklin

    Votes: 33 38.4%
  • Gary Ablett Jnr

    Votes: 53 61.6%

  • Total voters
    86

Remove this Banner Ad

Clearly you had a buddy guernsey, then he left so now you pretends its for Derm, its ok we get it

Nope....Cyril & Sam were always my favs of the recent crop.

Derm was never a fav either....Though his big game nous & presence easily eclipses Buddy's record on that score.
 
People are always bias towards what they've seen more recently.
It's hard to argue against 5 AFL MVP awards, 8 consecutive All Australians, 3 AFLCA, 6 club B&Fs and 2 Brownlow medals.
That's a decorated career of which we've never seen before, and unlikely will again.

Buddy is the second best running around, and is also highly decorated, but historically there's a number of key forwards who have done more than the Bud, or are rated higher.
Buddy is ground breaking in the way he plays, he's not ground breaking in what he's achieved compared to the other all time great key forwards. He is certainly my favourite non-tiger of all time to watch though.

Before someone gets offended and jumps down my throat, Buddy is an all time great, and I rate him extremely highly. There's no shame in being second to the best we've seen in the modern era in GAJ.

*I'm ignoring Carey in this GAJ vs Buddy debate.
 
Last edited:

Log in to remove this ad.

Roughy has 4 Flags to Buddy's 2....Enough said.
This is why I said you have a simplistic and old fashion view when judging and comparing players. To you, any one player that has played in more premierships (like Roughead/Derm vs Franklin), or has played a couple of "better finals" (like Hodge vs Voss) means they are "superior".
 
This is why I said you have a simplistic and old fashion view when judging and comparing players. To you, any one player that has played in more premierships (like Roughead/Derm vs Franklin), or has played a couple of "better finals" (like Hodge vs Voss) means they are "superior".

The point was rather more, that unlike Buddy, Roughy is actually a 'team' player.
 
Not if you've seen more than 15 years of footy.

Anyway, GAJ gets the midfielders accolades but I'd take Buddy every day of the week.

What else does Gary need to do? He has dominated the competition for the last 11 years, playing only a handful of below average games in 200 attempts. He is absolutely in the conversation and that’s not up for debate.


On iPhone using BigFooty.com mobile app
 
What else does Gary need to do? He has dominated the competition for the last 11 years, playing only a handful of below average games in 200 attempts. He is absolutely in the conversation and that’s not up for debate.


On iPhone using BigFooty.com mobile app

While he did stuff the statsheet for many years, he left one of the greatest teams of our generation for a team with about a 30% win rate.

Prime Ablett vs Prime Franklin in a final, give me prime Franklin twice on Sunday.
 
Ablett easily. Not even close for mine. Ablett should have at least 3 Brownlows (at the very least). Franklin is good but no where near the quality of Ablett jr. There are levels to this.
 
What else does Gary need to do? He has dominated the competition for the last 11 years, playing only a handful of below average games in 200 attempts. He is absolutely in the conversation and that’s not up for debate.

On iPhone using BigFooty.com mobile app

The past 4 he has spent half the time on the sidelines injured.....A record which is starting to make Geelong's gamble look somewhat risky to say the least.
 
The past 4 he has spent half the time on the sidelines injured.....A record which is starting to make Geelong's gamble look somewhat risky to say the least.

And when he played, he was still in the best few in the league. Still is, too.


On iPhone using BigFooty.com mobile app
 
And that's how Buddy has gotten even better. He is more a team player now than ever.

We'll see once finals come round....There be the acid test.

Since 2008, he has failed rather miserably on that front, save for a couple of games.....Not good enough for the supposed, greatest forward of his generation.
 

(Log in to remove this ad.)

We'll see once finals come round....There be the acid test.

Since 2008, he has failed rather miserably on that front, save for a couple of games.....Not good enough for the supposed, greatest forward of his generation.

"Supposed"?

There's absolutely no question that Buddy's the best forward since Carey. Since about 2010 Buddy has been very team orientated and quite unselfish, so I have no idea what world you're living in. Buddy has kicked 48 goals in finals since 2008 for an average of 3 goals, not great but not bad. Nowhere near failing miserably that's for sure. Don't forget, he was about the only one who fired a shot in the 2012 GF and 2014 GF.
 
"Supposed"?

There's absolutely no question that Buddy's the best forward since Carey. Since about 2010 Buddy has been very team orientated and quite unselfish, so I have no idea what world you're living in. Buddy has kicked 48 goals in finals since 2008 for an average of 3 goals, not great but not bad. Nowhere near failing miserably that's for sure. Don't forget, he was about the only one who fired a shot in the 2012 GF and 2014 GF.

When has Buddy last since grabbed a finals series by the scruff of the neck?....Much less won a grand final for his team since 2008?

Too often blokes with half his ability like Lonergan, have held him to a negligible contribution.....That's lack of character & intestinal fortitude.

A bloke his size & with his athletic abilities should be winning finals for fun.

In 2012 his kicking all but abandoned him on the biggest stage of them all....So that rather than being the difference, he actually lost that Premiership for us....His team in 2014 got smashed & he made a good contribution against his old side.

See what Martin did on the big stage last year.....Franklin has yet to come close to emulating that when it counts.
 
This thread is dumb, one is a forward and one is a midfielder.
Exactly! The only question to be asked is "has either player taken the game by the scruff of the neck and won a game off their own boot"? Franklin certainly did in the first game of the season v WCE in Perth. Don't think Ablett has done it for awhile although will admit my memory is a bit rusty when Geelong were at their best and won their flags.
 
Good question.I have nothing but respect for both players but after watching Buddy last night ,I don't think there has been a more dynamic player in the AFL. Buddy narrowly from Gaz junior.
 
Buddy had a terrific finals game in 2007 & one in 2008, where he kicked 7 & 8 goals respectively.....Though he rarely delivered on the big stage thereafter & was always beaten & well held by Lonergan/Taylor & Scarlett.....Murdered in fact, would be closer to the mark.

Brereton would never have allowed that to happen to him....

Well there was this one time in 1987 and this bloke named David Rhys-Jones.
 
Back
Top