1 Melbourne - Jack Watts

2 West Coast - Nicholas Naitanui

3 Fremantle - Daniel Rich

4 Port Adelaide - Hamish Hartlett

5 Essendon - Michael Hurley

6 Carlton - Shaun McKernan

7 Brisbane - Jack Ziebell

8 Richmond - Tyrone Vickery

9 North Melbourne - Chris Yarran

10 Adelaide - Matthew Broadbent

It's not something you're likely to hear again after a hard-fought NFL game, but Eagles cornerback Sheldon Brown gave no hint that he was joking when he said, after the 15-6 victory over the Steelers, that punter Sav Rocca "won the game."

"They were unbelievable," coach Andy Reid said of Rocca's punts. "You don't very often talk about a punter being a weapon, but he sure was a weapon tonight."

The New York Jets re-signed recently released punter Ben Graham in time for him to play in the team’s Monday night game against the San Diego Chargers.

Graham was cut last Tuesday after getting off to a poor start in his fourth season with the Jets. New York signed journeyman Reggie Hodges to replace him, but Hodges injured his left thigh in practice late last week and was ruled out for the game at San Diego.

A Geelong Brownlow trifecta, yet another potential piece of history for this machine of a football team, is a distinct possibility. Gary Ablett and Jimmy Bartel are first and second favourites, Joel Corey equal fourth, and Joel Selwood equal eighth in the betting.

This might not be a good thing for Richmond supporters to see, as they missed out, twice. In the 2004 draft the top pick went on Deledio, pick 2 was Jarryd Roughead, pick 3 was a good choice with Ryan Griffen and Richmond was back again with pick 4 and Richard Tambling. Richmond didn't do too badly though, as Deledio is a star and Tambling may get there. Hawthorn should have taken him with 2 when he was available there, but they were lucky and at pick 5 they drafted Lance Franklin.

When Franklin was drafted he was listed at 196cm and 87kg. This season his weight was listed at 95kg, probably his perfect playing weight. This was not a Josh Thurgood case, this was a player with the potential to get stronger and that was achieved.

The developed Franklin is not only around 10cm taller than Brereton or Dunstall, but he nearly weighs as much as Dunstall did in his prime.

Now Franklin only has the potential to be as good as those two, but he is going in the right direction. In his first year he kicked a goal per game, in his second season Franklin had just over two goals per game. There is no reason why he can't get at least three goals a game for 2007.

He didn't improve just the total goals, and goals per game average, but it was also his accuracy from all distances and angles. He kicked behinds at the same average over both his first two years in the AFL, he increased his goals kicked per game so his accuracy in 2005 was 62% and for 2006 he improved to 78%.

If there is a problem, it is where he should be played. Franklin can play nearly anywhere so the question Hawthorn must answer is to find which spot he will do the most damage. Maybe they can put him alone in the goal-square and watch as he kicks 80 goals a season. But he doesn't have to be that close to score goals, Buddy is also one of the best shots for goal from outside 50m.

If there is a statistic that shows how underrated Franklin is, it is tackles. Last season he had a per game average that was higher than Crawford, Brown, Smith and Bateman. Lance was 8th on the Hawks for tackles per game, and the players who were ahead of him all played on the ball most of the time. Franklin might be tall but he is also fast, and this pressure on opposition defenses will create scoring opportunities.

If you have a player that you compare Franklin to then post a comment below, but in many ways he is unique. If you compare Franklin to other forwards he is either quicker or much bigger. Maybe Richardson comes closest, but Franklin is a decade younger than him. Riewoldt is another player to judge Franklin with, if Franklin had played the entire 2006 season he probably would have kicked as many goals as Riewoldt.

While comparing players to Franklin is difficult it is even harder for teams to find players to play on him. If they put a tall player on him Franklin will just run off them, if they try a faster opponent Franklin is too big for them.

Franklin ended 2006 with 3.25 goals a game over his last 4 games. If he keeps that going for 2007 that would equal 71 goals. An improvement on that would get him the Coleman, while 60 or 70 goals next season could get him on the All-Australian team.

Franklin would have started a bidding war among the AFL clubs if he had not signed a new contract. That he did agree to stay at Hawthorn means they have their most important piece in place and can build a contender around him.

If there is a better prospect, aged 21 or under, in the AFL then post a comment below.

He has the potential to become the complete player. A true utility that Hawthorn can use to roam freely and break games open at the blink of an eye lid.
All Hawthorn needs is a traditional link up half forward to come along and relieve Franklin of this responsibility. Perhaps that will be Roughead or it may be Sellar or Thorp pending this draft.

Don't get me wrong Deledio will be a superstar, but Buddy is something special!

wow I love buddy I wished we took him it the draft, There is so much natural talent, just wait till he learns to controll it. watch out he is going to be un believeable..

The guy has had only 2 decent games to date. To be calling him a "Best young" is laughable.
Please not compare him to Dunstall or Brereton.

As a Hawthorn supporter I'd very much like to agree with your thoughts on Buddy, unfortunately to me he still lacks the marking ability and the decision making you're likely to get from an up and coming star. I hope he proves me wrong and kicks 80 odd in 07!!

Thats a joke....I'm sorry but 2 good games doesn't make you the best Player u/21, u's are all kidding yourselves and as a kangaroos supporter so im totaly unbiased in this comment but Brett Deledio is by far the best player in that age bracket, Brock is fantastic but he has no more improvement in him, what we see now is what we get with Brock.

The Box Hill Hawks went into its opening match with four new and exciting Hawthorn-listed names in its line-up. Rookie Ruory Kirkby, Jordan Lewis, Jarryd Roughead and Bo Nixon (against his former club) all made their Box Hill debuts. Williamstown selected many experienced VFL listed players including ex-Hawks Brad Lloyd and Rayden Tallis. 2004 Hawthorn rookie Paul Shelton was also named for the Seagulls.

The Box Hill forward line functioned like a well oiled machine in the first half. Key forwards Jarryd Roughead, Clinton Alleway and Tim Harvey severely tested the Seagull defence with their marking ability (Alleway and Roughead taking 16 marks between them) and all round aggression. Small forward Kristan Height did brilliantly in winning the contested footy (21 possessions and 6 marks) but let himself down with some missed chances in front of goal.

Apart from one season from Brad Ottens, Richo has never had a foil like Jarryd Roughead.

"Roughie" is precisely the buddy that Franklin needs along side him: a solid bloke with a lumberjack physique, who can't be budged. He's the rock on which the cult of Franklin will be built.

"Yeah, well, you get to play next to the guy who's arguably going to be the best bloke to ever play footy, and sometimes you get the second-best defender, so it's a win-win every week! You get a good view of watching Buddy do what he does and you have a good chance of beating your opponent," the less-profiled but no less valued member of Hawthorn's enviably talented duo of tall forwards says, before undertaking morning goalkicking practice in the lead-up to tonight's first final.

When they met as 15-year-old All-Australian representatives, Roughead and Lance "Buddy" Franklin liked each other instantly. As 21-year-old AFL teammates, they remain best mates despite the fact that as footballers, personalities and physical specimens, they are more yin and yang than peas in a pod.

"(It) was noticeable early in the game, Roughy had to sacrifice his position a fair bit, but that's what team play is all about," Clarkson said.

"As it turned out, they (the Bombers) were recognising that Franklin was making too great a contribution and that's when 'Roughy' started to kick his goals. He ended up with three, so that's what team play's all about."

Jarryd is very mobile and kicked 46 goals for the Gippsland Power in 2004. He is a fantastic one-grab mark, competitive and looks a superb talent.

Most of his 2005 season was spent in defensive roles, where it is hoped he will develop his football nous. Many believe his future lies in the front half of the ground.

Given that he is such a tall, athletic and naturally gifted player, it was probably inevitable that Lance Franklin would become a popular player in the AFL. But it's fair to say that even his club, Hawthorn, was not expecting this — with the season (and his career) only four weeks old, he's developed such a cult following at Glenferrie that on Saturday, the club's merchandise store at the MCG ran out of the entire Franklin stock of pins and badges.

"A changing of the guard," was how one Hawk insider described it yesterday, saying youngsters such as Franklin, Sam Mitchell and Luke Hodge are gradually taking over from Shane Crawford, Nick Holland and Jonathan Hay as the most popular players at the club. But it's Lance "Buddy" Franklin — the nickname comes from his father, who is also Lance "Buddy" Franklin — who is all the rage, particularly among the younger supporters, as evidenced by the merchandise sellout and also by the way he was mobbed at a kids' footy clinic last week. And check through the Hawks' chat room websites and it seems that Franklin is the player everyone wants to talk about.

Hawthorn coach Alastair Clarkson says the weekend's 46-point win over Brisbane and a Rising Star nomination for young forward Lance Franklin have justified his decision to persist with a youth policy.

The Hawks have had six rookies make their debuts this season and recorded their first win of the season on Saturday to climb off the bottom of the AFL ladder.

Clarkson said the club's younger players, such as Lance Franklin, Jarryd Roughead and Josh Thurgood, had established a foundation for future success.

"These kids are going to be great players for us, but they just need some time and need some experience like young Roughead did against (Cameron) Mooney on the weekend," he said.

Hawthorn's Jarryd Roughead is the round 19 nominee for the AFL rising star award after his solid all-round performance against Brisbane at the Gabba on Sunday.

He is the third Hawthorn player to be nominated this season joining Lance Franklin and Jordan Lewis.