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
Feb 28, 2007
51,374
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Sydney
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Arguably the two best players of the last 20 years and even though their careers are not done yet, who do you think has been the better player?

Buddy
272 games
Goals - 868 goals
2 premierships
7 All Australians
4 Coleman medals
10 times leading goal kicker (at club)

Ablett Jnr
303 games
2 premierships
2 Brownlow Medals
5 times AFL best and fairest
8 All Australians
6 Best and fairests (at club)

So, who was over the course of their careers been the better player?
 
May 20, 2011
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Ablett Jnr has the slightly better body of work but Buddy's best is superior. Both should be cemented in the top 5 best players of all time by the end of their careers.
 
Apr 1, 2011
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Ablett Jnr has the slightly better body of work but Buddy's best is superior. Both should be cemented in the top 5 best players of all time by the end of their careers.


Wow....Huge Call ...they are both superstars but top 5 of all time? Abletts old man would probably disagree...so might Leigh Mathews; Riccuito; Hird; Buckley; Voss; Carey; Swan; Jesalenko; etc etc ....a few others...hahaaha :rolleyes:
 
May 20, 2011
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Wow....Huge Call ...they are both superstars but top 5 of all time? Abletts old man would probably disagree...so might Leigh Mathews; Riccuito; Hird; Buckley; Voss; Carey; Swan; Jesalenko; etc etc ....a few others...hahaaha :rolleyes:
Not really. Ablett Jnr and Franklin already have Riccutio, Hird, Buckley, Voss, Swan (lol) and Jesalenko covered.

I can see this working as a top 5 with debate on how the 5 are ranked...


Carey
Ablett Snr
Matthews
Ablett Jnr
Franklin
 
May 20, 2011
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Both Lockett & Dunstall are easily ahead of Franklin.....Some of you blokes have very short memories indeed!

Franklin might make top 20 currently of all time....But top 5?.....Phlease!
Lockett & Dunstall were champions but take off the nostalgic goggles, Franklin will be considered the better player by the end of his career.
 
Feb 24, 2013
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The GoldenBrown Heart of Victoria
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Lockett & Dunstall were champions but take off the nostalgic goggles, Franklin will be considered the better player by the end of his career.

Franklin could get injured next week & never play again....I deal with actuality, not fairy-land stuff, where punters get carried-away after a single weeks performance.

Franklin would be lucky to crack the all time Top 20 currently & Gablett Junior might make the Top 10....Historical perspective>>>>2 weeks memory syndrome.

Buddy wouldn't even be in Hawthorn's Top 10 ever with all of Matthews, Hudson, Tuck, Dunstall, Mitchell, Hodge, Knights, Crawford, Platten, Brereton all well ahead of him.....And even if he was still playing for us, he still wouldn't be ahead of any of em.

Here's a list of all the Champions well ahead of Franklin:

Matthews
Ablett Snr
Carey
Lockett
Coleman
Dunstall
Hudson
Jesaulenko
Reynolds
Stewart
Nicholls
Bartlett
Skilton
Dempsey
Bunton Jnr
Madden
Barassi
Coventry
Blight
Farmer

Enough of the nonsense already.....He's kicked one tonne in his career & only twice kicked 10 or more.
 

Chrizzt

Norm Smith Medallist
Aug 17, 2009
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Swan in serious conversations about GOAT players. FMD.

Buddy for mine, gap between him and other key forwards is much bigger than between Ablett and other mids.

Not meaning to play down how great GAJ is, but in the end, it's about kicking goals and Buddy is nearly impossible to stop in that regard.
 
Feb 24, 2013
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The GoldenBrown Heart of Victoria
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Swan in serious conversations about GOAT players. FMD.

Buddy for mine, gap between him and other key forwards is much bigger than between Ablett and other mids.

Not meaning to play down how great GAJ is, but in the end, it's about kicking goals and Buddy is nearly impossible to stop in that regard.

Buddy currently averages 3.2 goals per game as compared to Josh Kennedy's 2.5 & Jack Riewoldts 2.4.

Historically Hudson averaged 5.64, Coleman 5.48, Lockett 4.84, Dunstall 4.66, McKenna 4.58, Pratt 4.31, Coventry 4.25, Ablett Snr 4.15.....They are the all-time leaders for players who have kicked 400 or more goals.

As for non permanent full-forwards, Buddy definitely has the best overall average at 3.2, with Kernahan at 2.94, Richardson @ 2.84, Matthews at 2.76, Carey at 2.7 & Blight @ 2.5.
 
May 20, 2011
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Franklin could get injured next week & never play again....I deal with actuality, not fairy-land stuff, where punters get carried-away after a single weeks performance.

Franklin would be lucky to crack the all time Top 20 currently & Gablett Junior might make the Top 10....Historical perspective>>>>2 weeks memory syndrome.

Buddy wouldn't even be in Hawthorn's Top 10 ever with all of Matthews, Hudson, Tuck, Dunstall, Mitchell, Hodge, Knights, Crawford, Platten, Brereton all well ahead of him.....And even if he was still playing for us, he still wouldn't be ahead of any of em.

Here's a list of all the Champions well ahead of Franklin:

Matthews
Ablett Snr
Carey
Lockett
Coleman
Dunstall
Hudson
Jesaulenko
Reynolds
Stewart
Nicholls
Bartlett
Skilton
Dempsey
Bunton Jnr
Madden
Barassi
Coventry
Blight
Farmer

Enough of the nonsense already.....He's kicked one tonne in his career & only twice kicked 10 or more.
Again with the rose tinted glasses. Franklin plays in a far more sophisticated tactical era of team defense where on average it's far harder to score and yet Franklin is on track to crack 1000 goals by the end of his career. He is already comfortably a better player than most of those ex-Hawthorn players, and you can't comment on players who played 60 years ago.

Franklin is an all-time great, and so is Ablett Jnr.
 
Last edited:
Feb 24, 2013
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Expect it isn't.

Dude....Let it go.

Buddy reached his zenith in 2008 & has never risen to those heights again since.

He got distracted by the fame & the limelight & it went to his head.....He could have been the greatest player ever, but he blew it, in allowing his head to be turned towards other things which drew his focus away from developing himself as a footballer & his game further.....Bit late now to change that legacy.

He will be remembered as a great, but hardly in the greatest argument.....Hawthorn became a better team without him....How many flags has he won with the Swans again?

Ablett Junior will probably end up around the top 10 mark overall.
 
May 20, 2011
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Dude....Let it go.

Buddy reached his zenith in 2008 & has never risen to those heights again since.

He got distracted by the fame & the limelight & it went to his head.....He could have been the greatest player ever, but he blew it, in allowing his head to be turned towards other things which drew his focus away from developing himself as a footballer & his game further.....Bit late now to change that legacy.

He will be remembered as a great, but hardly in the greatest argument.....Hawthorn became a better team without him....How many flags has he won with the Swans again?

Ablett Junior will probably end up around the top 10 mark overall.
He did devlop his game further. He got more versatile, he learnt to apply more defensive pressure, he shared the ball around more etc. Basically he grew as a better overall footballer with substance instead of being one dimensional. Goals isn't the only feature of Buddy's game.

The only reason the Swans have competed as strongly and as consistently as they have is because of Buddy
 
Sep 29, 2008
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Between the lines.
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Dude....Let it go.

Buddy reached his zenith in 2008 & has never risen to those heights again since.

He got distracted by the fame & the limelight & it went to his head.....He could have been the greatest player ever, but he blew it, in allowing his head to be turned towards other things which drew his focus away from developing himself as a footballer & his game further.....Bit late now to change that legacy.

He will be remembered as a great, but hardly in the greatest argument.....Hawthorn became a better team without him....How many flags has he won with the Swans again?

Ablett Junior will probably end up around the top 10 mark overall.
This is some seriously trollish posting, even for you.

Absolutely Buddy is in the mix for top 5 ever players.
 

HolyWars

Premiership Player
Apr 8, 2008
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Personally I prefer Buddy (bias included), but Ablett is a freak. Both in the top 10 of all time for mine with Ablett probably ranked a little higher.
 
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