Lance Franklin

This is in no reference to his supercoach scoring.

I have said this a long time, even when he was having an 'outstanding' year last year,

He would have to be one of the most over rated, weak, selfish and undisciplined player of all time.

He leads the competition in Clangers and Free's Against in the last 2 years by a bloody freeway,

He's good for one thing only, kicking goals. And hes not even that great at that seen as he kicks a shitload of points too...also when he's in the midfield he fails to hit a target

He can't kick on his right foot, he loves himself, and he's on drugs. I do not know how he has been compared to the likes of Ablett and Judd because I tell you what, there is a big percentage of AFL players I'd love at my club before Franklin.

Write back with your opinions, love to see who agrees/disagrees!!!

Hmmmmm......
I tend to agree and disagree here....

I think yes he's had alot of expectations on him as a player when compared to the likes of other elite footballers. However he is still a young kid and must say would still be coming to terms with this type attention (in ways of dealing with it and becoming 'selfish', 'going to his head', etc) and this would be affecting his output. His social life and football career must be blurring, and I think this is the area AFL are having alot of troubles in (we can also say the same for NRL here). Footballers are now being looked upon as 'superstars' and with this comes alot of 'unwanted' attention from an on-field perspective. These kids just don't know how to deal with it and there isn't enough support or guidance for them. Fev is another example. When his focussed on football, and football only he is someone I would have in my team for sure, but when sources outside from football start to influence him - his head is not in the right place and he's hot and cold.

I'm in no way defending the bloke, but there must be a reason for the 'hype' and his ability to be an elite forward. I think his head is not where it should be.
Maybe this season will be his wake-up call.....

Interesting subject - Buddy. No doubt that his athletic ability is freaky. Can do things that guys his size just should not be able to. Harvey_29 does make some very good points re being undisciplined, selfish - I am well aware about his frees against & clangers as I have him in my team( would you believe I had Riewoldt instead of him at the start of the year & changed my mind after talking to a friend!).Clackerz is also correct in saying that the pressures of being a young AFL star can be difficult to deal with. Everyone wants a piece of him so needs some guidance. I thought the hawks had a "minder" system in place so an experienced player was always there to keep him in line when he went out? Need to be careful regarding the drugs reference though Harvey - there are suspicions but no proof yet. Last year has gone to his head no doubt, hopefully he will learn from it & gain some maturity. With regards to his onfield performance this year, there is no doubt that power forwards are reliant on what happens ahead them. They need their midfielders to be delivering the ball well to them, kicking it to their advantage. Buddy has not had the service he received last year from them.Teams have worked the hawks out & know how to counter their style of play.I have lost count how many times he has had 2 or 3 opponents to beat to get the footy. Most teams now are employing a zone defence, guarding space rather than a direct opponent which makes it harder for key forwards to lead into space. Apart from Reiwoldt, all the key forwards have struggled this year with the odd exception ( Roughy kicking 8 goals once, & Fev kicking 8 twice) which I believe is a sign of the future. The modern game has changed & the big power forwards are the most affected by it.

Ablett, Judd, Reiwoldt & Cox are superstars of the game who conduct themselves very well on & off the field . In my opinion the next young gun that will be a superstar is Joel Selwood. All quality, great team ethic, hard as nails, keeps himself out of trouble off the field. Buddy has undoubtedly got the physical attributes but needs to work on his metal side, gain some maturity if he is to become an elite AFL superstar.

Dav is right the game has def changed and these 'big' forwards are being affected - big time.

The style is a more running game - move the ball at all costs, and more and more teams are kicking goals on the run with multiple goal kickers. The Bombers are an example of this. Whilst they haven't got the game plan working 100% (young inexperienced players making unforced errors etc) you can see the running game. (Yes I am a biased Bomber supporter!)

With Buddy being solid and having the ability at ground level as well as a tall forward I think once he gets himself focused and attention to football alone - he'll be a dangerous player to have.

Cousins is an example of what can happen when it all gets too much and you try to have the best of both worlds - one world implodes. He's damn lucky that he got another shot. It would've been such a waste of talent. He'll never be the player he was (due to drugs, emotional effects - both the drugs and the publicity, the fact he missed 2 years of football fitness and now his age).

This should've been a massive wake-up call to the AFL or even the AFLPA. Players (esp these young kids who come into AFL and have early success) can quickly get sucked up into the rockstar lifestyle.
Its not just drugs or alcohol that affect these players, its the media attention, knowing how to handle it - both good and bad publicity - can really affect how a player comes out the next week and performs.

As I said I agree that Buddy has some issues relating to having the best of both worlds - and this is affecting his output and quality but only time will tell if he can mature and decide where he wants to head.