would you rather...

[Agent Smith]

Bud was mercurial and could kick goals from nowhere... but he could also be very inaccurate and demand scoring opportunities be funneled through him. The first point is great from a marketing sense, the second not so much in terms of winning premierships.

Our forward line used to be brittle with Bud in the team (something Sydney is finding out now). If he was not on-song, sometimes our entire forward structure would breakdown. Nowadays, we have so many goalkickers sharing the load it's impossible to stop us scoring, which is why more often than not we kick over 100 points a game with almost seemingless ease.

We ARE a better team without Buddy, even though I still strangely have him in our best ever Hawks team. In terms of BB, JOR and Chip, they're just icing on the cake for the better team that we've become.

 

[JustKickIt]

Yep, I only want premierships.

It's fantastic to watch great footy and great players doing their stuff, but at the end of the day (year?), I just want to win a Premiership.

.

How lucky are you!? You get both!!

 

[detox]

Well he left, the other Forwards picked up his slack and made us less one dimensional.

His price meant we will be able to bring in quality, and keep the Breust/Smith types that could have been squeezed out by cap pressure.

His presence has made another challenger more one dimensional, and his price has forced some of their other star players to leave (Malceski / Mumford + WATCH THIS SPACE

We don't need Franklin. I am happy he has gone. No player is bigger than the team.

 

[GoldenHodge]

I kinda feel the question should be would you rather Frawley + Hartung or Buddy though I guess you could chuck in McEvoy because of the cap space Buddy freed. Buddy leaving made us a much more even team, not only in the sense of goal kicking accuracy, individual goal kickers and our forward line but also in the cap space to keep players and lure players into our club. We've won a premiership without him, I wouldn't trade it for anything in huge world. While I was disappointed with Buddy leaving, we have adapted and evolved (and continue to evolve and change) into an exciting team. It's going to be exciting seeing where this team can go and achieve in the future.

 

[Jtree]

Loved what Buddy did for this team in his time, but theres no doubt McEvoy/Frawley is the better option............

Agreed. When we had Bud we had 'a weak back line and ruck'. Now.... No apparent weakness... The proposition for 2015 is scarier than ever (for the opposition!)

 

[mightynineteen]

We are a stronger team now that Buddy has left, for all the reasons given above.

But I must admit it was wonderful and exciting watching him kick all those mercurial goals, in Hawthorn colours.

 

[Crankyhawk]

The other thing buddy moving to the swans did, was give the swans a false sense of security with all the abandonwagoners they have taken aboard because of him. A great deal of their current supporters will go meh, what's Billy Slater up to? when they start finishing 7th, and the swans will have pre spent all the income they thought they were getting.

And destroyed their cola and their ability to trade.

If we had known this would have happened, we might not have been so upset.

Am slightly worried that the karma bus might come towards us at some point though....

 

[HR Roughnstuf]

I don't think it is as easy as you decribe.

In: Franklin
Out: McEvoy, Frawley, O'Rourke

I think someone very good would have been squeezed out perhaps Brad Hill or Breust if we had of kept Franklin.

 

[IdiotBox]

The beauty of it all is that our current crop of boys have now tasted ultimate success (once,twice and for 6 of them, thrice!) and that must surely be the pinnacle of a professional football career. No one in their right mind would be chasing $$$$ whilst they are experiencing thiis period of AFL nirvana. Pretty sure there would be very few who are considering the bigger dollars elsewhere whilst the ultimate glory is right in front of them.

 

[hfc70]

Ring , Ring....

"Good Morning, AFL, How can I help you ?"
"Yeah,Nah, definitely. It's Buddy, I want to buy one of those 2014 Premiership Medallions"
"Hold the line, Sir"
"No...it's Buddy"
"I know who you are Mr.Franklin. One moment !"
......
"Hi Buddy, it's me Gill."
" Sorry mate, can I talk to Andy ?"
"Buddy, I took over from Andrew ! It's Gill McLaughlin"
"Oh, your not on Game Day anymore ?"
"Bud,that's my brother Hamish !"
.....
"Anyway Hamish, I just called cause I want to buy one of those 2014 Premiership Medallions. Technically I can cause I used to play for the Hawks"
(Gill....chuckling on the other end)
"Sorry Buddy, they're not one of those individual medals like a Coleman. They are a medal signifying the best team of the year. They can't be bought, they must be earnt with 21 other team mates that's why they are so valuable."
" yeah, nah, definitely......but I got lots of money , can I just buy two, one for me & me mate Hanners ?
"Buddy ! The best you can do is go online at the Hawks Nest and purchase one of those replica Premiership cups"
........screeeech......bang......"Shit, I just crashed Jesintas new Jeep. Quick Hanners swap places with me , I'm wasted. I will call you back Hamish, gotta go"

 

[Fevola99]

Hmmm we may have one the 2014 premiership by around 120 points if we had Buddy but long term I think we win (won't know until after 2016 GF)

If he didn't go to the Swans they would not have made it to the grand final, and we would have had to play a team that put up a fight.

 

[Cyrilyouchampion]

Ring , Ring....

"Good Morning, AFL, How can I help you ?"
"Yeah,Nah, definitely. It's Buddy, I want to buy one of those 2014 Premiership Medallions"
"Hold the line, Sir"
"No...it's Buddy"
"I know who you are Mr.Franklin. One moment !"
......
"Hi Buddy, it's me Gill."
" Sorry mate, can I talk to Andy ?"
"Buddy, I took over from Andrew ! It's Gill McLaughlin"
"Oh, your not on Game Day anymore ?"
"Bud,that's my brother Hamish !"
.....
"Anyway Hamish, I just called cause I want to buy one of those 2014 Premiership Medallions. Technically I can cause I used to play for the Hawks"
(Gill....chuckling on the other end)
"Sorry Buddy, they're not one of those individual medals like a Coleman. They are a medal signifying the best team of the year. They can't be bought, they must be earnt with 21 other team mates that's why they are so valuable."
" yeah, nah, definitely......but I got lots of money , can I just buy two, one for me & me mate Hanners ?
"Buddy ! The best you can do is go online at the Hawks Nest and purchase one of those replica Premiership cups"
........screeeech......bang......"Shit, I just crashed Jesintas new Jeep. Quick Hanners swap places with me , I'm wasted. I will call you back Hamish, gotta go"

It looked authentic up until two words were strung together

 

[Gralin]

I loved having Buddy at Hawthorn
Not having Buddy makes us a better team though
When you have a player that good in your forward line its hard not to go to him which makes you predictable
When he knows he can kick them from anywhere he will try which doesnt always work and you can lose games

For me its not about who we get with the money from him its about how the team functions without him and how much success we have

 

[blue harvest]

I don't want players who don't want to play for us.

 

[Gold Member]

Ring , Ring....

........screeeech......bang......"Shit, I just crashed Jesintas new Jeep. Quick Hanners swap places with me , I'm wasted. I will call you back Hamish, gotta go"

Jingoes

 

[killerspud]

If he didn't go to the Swans they would not have made it to the grand final, and we would have had to play a team that put up a fight.

we still would have beaten them by 10 goals - let's face it, with the intent we showed on Grand Final day this year they could have used a time machine and brought back the AFL team of the century in their prime and we still would have flattened them by 40 odd points

 

[The BIG X]

I don't want players who don't want to play for us.

That is THE BOTTOM LINE

 

[MistyAvalon]

Losing Franklin made us a better team.

Case closed

a muh much better team and allowed others to showcase talents

 

[lyger]

In terms of BB, JOR and Chip, they're just icing on the cake for the better team that we've become.

We havent seen the best of BB yet (only in flashes), and I have a feeling Chip will be huge for us. And if JOR lives up to his earlier billing and potential, absolutely laughing.

 

[Footy 1st]

Ahhh I can still remember singing Franklin's praises during some games... I can also remember being p**sed off with his inaccuracy, ill-discipline & look-at-me strut/attitude...fantastically talented player but from the outside looking in the players around him looked more & more trapped in their game plan...until 2013.. Then the real forward line began to develop! As someone mentioned earlier his departure allowed us to raise a few wages of some honest champions and keep our next tier locked in! The fact we've been able to pick up some readymade future is very pleasing

 

[Furn2]

if we had cola we could have both.

 

[HODGEYROAD]

Buddy easily

 

[HODGEYROAD]

Can't say it made us a better team, we went 22-3 in 2013... We are just awesome either way though... would have just been nice to see Budwah remain a 1 club player.

 

[Argy]

I have said since about 2010 that we were a better team when Franklin did not play. We saw it when he was absent for long stretches from injury or suspension. In 2013 we made a deliberate decision to focus less and less on him. Once we began to do this we became much harder to beat. This time last year I was adamant that we should not pay over the odds to keep him. As Clarko often says, squads win premierships, not individual players. The simple fact is that not having to pay buddy the big dollars means we have far greater depth.

Summary? I'm not regretful that he has gone. I think we are a better team because of it.

 

[HODGEYROAD]

I have said since about 2010 that we were a better team when Franklin did not play. We saw it when he was absent for long stretches from injury or suspension. In 2013 we made a deliberate decision to focus less and less on him. Once we began to do this we became much harder to beat. This time last year I was adamant that we should not pay over the odds to keep him. As Clarko often says, squads win premierships, not individual players. The simple fact is that not having to pay buddy the big dollars means we have far greater depth.

Summary? I'm not regretful that he has gone. I think we are a better team because of it.

Our record is also better when Rioli is out of the side, so do you want cyril traded?