'Almost impossible to match-up on': Swans coach farewells 'humble' Buddy Franklin

Jarred Cross Published July 31, 2023 at 2.46pm (AWST)

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Lance Franklin retires from football after 354 games and one of the great CVs in the sport. (Image: Sydney Swans Facebook)

354 games, 1066 goals, eight-time All Australian, four Coleman Medals, two premierships - one Lance Franklin.

One of the most decorated careers in VFL/AFL history has drawn to a close with the 36-year-old Whadjuk Noongar man calling time after 19 seasons at the top level.

Franklin confirmed the news, effective immediately, to his teammates on Monday after injuring his calf mid-way through Sydney's thrilling two-point win over Essendon on Saturday night.

Buddy appeared dejected as he sat on the bench throughout the remainder of the game, signalling a potential retirement with only a handful of games remaining in the 2023 home-and-away season.

Sydney coach John Longmire said on Monday an emotional Franklin told him over the phone he felt the setback on Saturday had put a pin in his 19-year career.

Scans confirmed a six-week injury, with just four games remaining in the home-and-away season and a mighty effort ahead of the Swans to feature in finals.

Rumours circulated as recently as last week that Franklin could go around again in 2024.

Franklin did not appear at the press conference to announce his retirement.

Longmire said we will hear from the champion but that he "just doesn't like these situations" is "so humble" and more comfortable doing his work out on the field.

"You have to respect that because he's been a superstar of the game," Longmire said.

The coach said he had never coached another player like him.

"We're all grateful for watching him," Longmire said.

"He's one of the all-time greats.

"He was almost impossible to match-up on.

"The best players lift at the moments they need to win the games in the balance. And he did that all the time."

Longmire and Swans chief executive Tom Harley acknowledged the work Franklin did in growing the interest and passion for the game in Sydney, as well as keep the club towards the top of the ladder over his decade in the harbour city.

The AFL thanked Franklin for his contributions to the game over his career.

Outgoing league chief executive executive Gillon McLachlan said football "had never seen a big man be able to do what he could".

"The sight of Buddy sprinting on goal, with at least 2-3 defenders in his wake, would bring a crowd to its feet in seconds and he had the champion's ability to seize the moment and bend a match to his will," McLachlan said.

"The game had never seen a big man be able to do what he could do as a forward, and he would dominate games over and over again, usually with a lethal left foot from outside 50 metres, or threading a major from the boundary, or sprinting towards goal with a couple of hapless defenders battling along behind him.

"He was the player that dragged people through the gates wherever he went and has been a hero for a generation of fans."

At the end of 2022, Franklin signed a one-year contract extension with the Swans after seeing out his nine-year mega-deal which brought him north from Hawthorne at the end of 2013.

His time in the AFL has been split almost evenly between the Hawks (182 games) and Swans (172) since debuting in round one of the 2005 season for Hawthorn, fittingly against his future side.

Just three years later, Franklin became - to date - the last AFL player to boot 100 goals in a season when he reached the milestone before quarter time of Hawthorn's round 22 clash with Carlton at Docklands Stadium.

Franklin won his first of two premierships with the Hawks in the 2008 Grand Final against Geelong a month later.

The scenes farewelled one of the great traditions of the sport.

With the direction of the game the feat will likely never to be reproduced by an individual player.

Fans were only able to storm the ground in a similar fashion almost 15 years on when Buddy became the sixth man to kick 1000 career goals in the early rounds of 2022 against Sydney's eventual Grand Final opponents in the Cats.

It wouldn't be his last milestone.

In round 13 of 2023, Franklin became the 22nd player to reach 350 senior games - just the fourth Indigenous man to do so, and moved past Geelong and North Melbourne great Doug Wade to fourth spot on the all-time goal-kicking tally board with his 1058th career major.

Less than two months later, he ran onto the field for the final time.

Speaking on Monday, Longmire said the disappointing manner of his final appearance would not tarnish his legacy on the sport.

"You'll just remember the high times and how much of a gun player he was. Sometimes these things happen. It's just part of life."

Lance Franklin career highlights.

354 career games (182 Hawthorn, 172 Sydney)

19th most games by any player

Third most games by an Indigenous player (behind Shaun Burgoyne and Adam Goodes)

1066 career goals

2x AFL premierships (2008, 2013)

Six Grand Final appearances

4x Coleman Medals as highest goal scorer in a season across the league (2008, 2011, 2014, 2017)

Seven-time leading goalkicker with Sydney