DARREN MONCRIEFF
Monday, June 20, 2011
LANCE 'BUDDY' FRANKLIN, the last man to boot 100 goals in an AFL season, has a slight lead on the goal-kicking leaderboard at the half-way point of the season, but the pressure to increase his output has risen due to injury at Hawthorn and a date at the tribunal this week.
The Hawks spearhead was at his enigmatic best in his team's 71-point win over Gold Coast on Saturday, having seven scoring shots for a return of 3.4, while also being reported for head-high contact.
That modest return brings Franklin's season tally to 42, just two goals ahead of Richmond's Jack Reiwoldt.
But with a season-ending injury to team-mate Jarryd Roughead last weekend, Franklin has become the Hawks' last true forward, meaning that the attention from opposition defenders will only increase markedly.
Franklin's goal-kicking average this season is 3.8; that would look a whole lot better had his tally not included 40 behinds.
In his record-breaking 2008 season, in which Franklin became Indigenous football's first Coleman Medal winner (AFL season leading goal-kicker), he kicked 102 goals in the home-and-away season, and 11 more in the finals, including the grand final in which the Hawks defeated Geelong, to take his season tally to 113. His goal-kicking average that season was 4.5.
To add to his woes this week, Franklin could face a two-match suspension after being reported for head-high contact on the Suns' Maverick Weller at the weekend.
It is the seventh time the West Australian has been reported.
Ahead for the fourth-placed Hawks are two season-defining clashes: Essendon and Collingwood.
AboriginalFootball@westnet.com.au
Last Modified on 24/06/2011 12:38