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.