94 Facts About Lance Franklin

Lance Franklin played for the Hawthorn Football Club from 2005 to 2013 and the Sydney Swans from 2014 to 2023.

Lance Franklin was selected in the All-Australian team on eight occasions, including as captain in the 2018 team, and won four Coleman Medals throughout his career, with his biggest haul coming in 2008 with Hawthorn, when he kicked 113 goals.

Lance Franklin won two premierships, four All-Australian selections, two Coleman Medals and a Peter Crimmins Medal in his time at Hawthorn.

Lance Franklin was Hawthorn's leading goalkicker for six consecutive seasons prior to his final season at the club in 2013, and kicked the AFL Goal of the Year on two occasions.

Lance Franklin received a nomination for the 2005 AFL Rising Star award in round 4 of the 2005 season.

Lance Franklin won a further four All-Australian selections and two Coleman Medals playing for Sydney, and was the club's leading goalkicker in his first five seasons there.

Lance Franklin was born in Perth, Western Australia, into a family of Indigenous Australian heritage and grew up in Dowerin supporting the Melbourne Football Club.

Lance Franklin is a cousin of former footballers Jeff Garlett and Dale Kickett.

Lance Franklin played one senior game for the Perth Football Club in 2004, kicking one goal, and represented Western Australia at the 2004 AFL Under 18 Championships.

Lance Franklin made his debut in round 1 of the 2005 season against Sydney at the Sydney Cricket Ground and showed a strong presence up forward throughout the year, kicking 21 goals in 20 games.

On 13 July 2006 Lance Franklin signed a two-year deal to remain at Hawthorn after being linked with clubs such as Essendon, Fremantle and the West Coast Eagles.

In 2007, Lance Franklin finished the home-and-away season with 63 goals, finishing third in the Coleman Medal behind Brisbane Lions co-captain Jonathan Brown and Fremantle captain Matthew Pavlich.

Lance Franklin's tally included a career-high nine goals against Essendon in round 6.

Lance Franklin was instrumental in Hawthorn's elimination final win over the Adelaide Crows, kicking seven goals in his finals debut, including the match-winning goal from outside fifty metres with seven seconds remaining in the match.

Lance Franklin finished the season with an equal-third finish in Hawthorn's best-and-fairest award, the Peter Crimmins Medal, and was Hawthorn's leading goalkicker for the first time in his career.

Lance Franklin played for the Dream Team in the AFL Hall of Fame Tribute Match, kicking four goals.

Lance Franklin kicked his 100th goal for the home-and-away season against Carlton in round 22 at Etihad Stadium, becoming the first player to kick 100 goals in a season since Tony Lockett in 1998, the first player to kick 100 goals in a year since Fraser Gehrig in 2004, the first Hawthorn player since Jason Dunstall in 1996, as of 2023, the last player to kick 100 goals in a year.

Lance Franklin was the first player of Aboriginal descent to achieve this.

Lance Franklin then added to his tally by kicking another eight goals in the qualifying final against the Western Bulldogs, equalling Dermott Brereton's record for the most goals kicked by a Hawthorn player in a finals match.

Lance Franklin kicked just one goal against St Kilda in the preliminary final, before Hawthorn went on to win the premiership.

Lance Franklin was named as full forward in the 2008 All-Australian team, his first ever selection; he then received his first Peter Crimmins Medal for his outstanding season.

Lance Franklin missed the 2009 NAB Cup after undergoing surgery on his thumb and his shoulder in the off-season.

Lance Franklin played his 100th game in round 19 against St Kilda at Aurora Stadium in Launceston.

In round 21, Lance Franklin was suspended for two matches as a result of a hip-and-shoulder against Richmond midfielder Ben Cousins.

Lance Franklin missed three of the first seven matches of 2010, all through suspension, as Hawthorn lost six consecutive matches after round 1.

However, Lance Franklin was back to his best form in round 9 against Carlton at Etihad Stadium, when he led Hawthorn to a 50-point win with five goals.

In round 10, Lance Franklin was suspended for the third time in eight matches for a head-high bump on Sydney Swans' defender Martin Mattner.

In round 13, Lance Franklin effectively dragged Hawthorn over the line for a win against their arch-rival in Essendon.

Lance Franklin kicked five goals in Round 17 against St Kilda after returning from an ankle injury; despite his performance, the Saints forced a draw during the final seconds of the match.

In round 22, Lance Franklin kicked six goals against Collingwood, helping the Hawks clinch a three-point come-from-behind victory against the eventual premiers.

In round 8 against the Sydney Swans at the SCG, Lance Franklin kicked his 400th goal for Hawthorn in a six-goal outing as the Hawks beat the Swans by 46 points.

Lance Franklin continued his consistent goalkicking form for the remainder of the year, including a season-high eight goals in a club-record 165-point win against a young Port Adelaide side at the MCG in Round 21.

Lance Franklin went on to win his second Coleman Medal that year with 71 goals, despite spending a significant amount of time further up the ground.

Lance Franklin was Hawthorn's sole target up forward in their qualifying final loss to the Geelong Cats, kicking four goals.

Lance Franklin was named in the 2011 All-Australian team, his third selection and second as full forward.

Lance Franklin struggled early in the season with inaccurate goalkicking, kicking 21 goals and 36 behinds in his first nine matches.

Lance Franklin was among five players that year to reach the milestone of 500 career goals, which occurred in a 162-point demolition of newcomers Greater Western Sydney in round 15, nearly eclipsing the club-record winning margin set the year before.

Lance Franklin was the second indigenous player to reach 500 goals, the fifth Hawthorn player, the seventh-youngest and the tenth-quickest from debut.

However, Lance Franklin suffered a hamstring injury the week before and continued to play, before injuring it further in the Giants game which, along with an illness, caused him to miss six matches.

Lance Franklin returned against Sydney at the SCG in round 22, kicking four goals in a seven-point come-from-behind victory against the eventual premiers, including three in the second quarter.

Lance Franklin played a minor role in the finals series that year, but kicked a goal late in the last quarter of the preliminary final against Adelaide which sealed the game for the Hawks, allowing them to qualify for the grand final against Sydney, where Lance Franklin kicked three goals in a losing side.

Lance Franklin was named in the 2012 All-Australian team, his fourth selection and second as centre half-forward.

Lance Franklin kicked 60 goals during the 2013 season, the first time since 2006 that he had kicked less than three goals per game, as he became less of a focal point in the Hawthorn forward line, while teammate Jarryd Roughead enjoyed a career-best season with 72 goals, earning him the Coleman Medal.

Lance Franklin played in the 2013 AFL Grand Final in which Hawthorn defeated Fremantle; this was the second time that he had played in a Hawthorn premiership winning side.

Greater Western Sydney was considered the most likely destination if Lance Franklin was to choose to leave Hawthorn.

On 1 October 2013, after months of speculation dating back to before the start of the season, Greater Western Sydney shocked the football public by announcing that it had withdrawn its offer of $1.2 million per year for six years, saying that the club was of the belief that Lance Franklin was set to sign with the Sydney Swans.

The next day, Lance Franklin said that he did not make his decision to move to Sydney "until the last minute".

Lance Franklin officially joined the Sydney Swans on 8 October 2013, a week after the move was first announced, after Hawthorn decided against matching the offer made to the restricted free agent.

The next day, Lance Franklin was unveiled by the Swans at the SCG.

Later in October, Lance Franklin travelled to Ireland with the Australian International Rules team for the 2013 International Rules Series.

Lance Franklin made his debut for the Sydney Swans in the round 1 Sydney Derby against cross-town rivals Greater Western Sydney at Spotless Stadium, and finished the game with one goal in a shock loss.

In round 8 against Hawthorn at ANZ Stadium, Lance Franklin kicked seven successive behinds in the first three quarters, before kicking two fourth-quarter goals to seal an upset victory in Lance Franklin's first match against his former side.

Lance Franklin continued his outstanding form throughout the season and went on to win his third Coleman Medal, kicking 67 goals in 19 matches during the home-and-away season.

Lance Franklin played his 200th game during the season, kicking a season-high nine goals in round 19 against St Kilda at the SCG.

Lance Franklin was named in the 2014 All-Australian team, his fifth selection and third as full forward; he then went on to finish equal-second with Gary Ablett, Jr.

Lance Franklin began the 2015 season with a solid three-goal performance against Essendon at ANZ Stadium, and continued this form throughout the season.

Lance Franklin then withdrew from playing in the finals series due to a mental illness.

Lance Franklin began the season well, kicking at least four goals in seven of the first eight matches to lead the goalkicking for most of the year.

Lance Franklin later recorded 17 kicks, eleven marks and seven goals in a 113-point demolition of Richmond at the SCG in round 23; in doing so, Franklin brought up his 200th goal as a Swan.

Lance Franklin was one of the Swans' best players during the finals series, despite only contributing seven goals across the four finals, and was among their best players in the 2016 AFL Grand Final loss to the Western Bulldogs.

Lance Franklin was named in the 2016 All-Australian team, his sixth selection and his third as centre half-forward.

Lance Franklin played his 250th game in round 3, kicking three behinds in a one-point loss to Collingwood at the SCG.

Two weeks later, Lance Franklin kicked his 800th career goal with the last of his three goals in the Swans' 42-point loss to Greater Western Sydney; this was Sydney's fifth of six-straight losses to start the season, which was their worst start to a season since 1993.

The Swans' losing streak came to an end when Lance Franklin kicked eight goals in a 54-point win against the Brisbane Lions in round 7.

In round 10, for Indigenous Round, Lance Franklin was among a number of players who wore the number 67 on their guernseys to commemorate the 1967 referendum which allowed Indigenous Australians to be counted with the general population in the census.

Lance Franklin won the Brett Kirk Medal as the best player afield in the Swans' Sydney Derby win in round 17, kicking four goals.

In bringing up his 50th goal for the season, against St Kilda in round 18, Lance Franklin brought up 50 goals in a season for the tenth time.

Lance Franklin was the first player to achieve this feat since Matthew Lloyd in 2008, and one of only nine players in the history of the game to ever do so; the other eight players had all kicked over 900 goals in their careers.

Lance Franklin reasserted his decade-long dominance against Essendon in the elimination final, kicking four goals in a second-quarter burst despite suffering a corked thigh in the first quarter, but was quiet in the semi-final loss to Geelong, kicking three behinds.

Lance Franklin was named in the 2017 All-Australian team, his seventh selection and his fourth at centre half-forward; it was the first time that he had achieved consecutive All-Australian selections since 2012, when he had achieved the accolade three years consecutively.

Lance Franklin polled an equal career-high 22 votes in the 2017 Brownlow Medal count, equalling the record number of votes achieved by a Coleman Medallist that he polled in 2014.

Lance Franklin opened the 2018 season with his largest opening-round haul of eight goals against West Coast in the first AFL match at Optus Stadium.

In round 15, Lance Franklin played his 100th game for Sydney, kicking four goals in the loss to Richmond at Etihad Stadium.

Two weeks later, Lance Franklin kicked his 900th career goal with the first of his three goals in the six-point win against North Melbourne at the same venue.

Lance Franklin was held goalless for only the second time that year in the elimination final loss to Greater Western Sydney as he dealt with a hip problem.

Lance Franklin was named as captain in the 2018 All-Australian team, which was his fifth selection at centre half-forward, third in succession and record-equalling eighth overall; this was despite missing four games and hardly being able to train due to injury, which Lance Franklin described as being "frustrating".

Lance Franklin later had surgery on his late-season groin injury, keeping him out of training for the rest of the year.

Lance Franklin was a late withdrawal the following round due to a left hamstring strain and ended up missing four games with the injury, before being cleared to play in round 10.

Lance Franklin was quiet upon his return, kicking three goals from his first two games back, before returning to form in round 12, taking nine marks and kicking five goals against West Coast at the SCG.

Lance Franklin ended up missing a further nine matches with the injury before being cleared to play his 300th game in the final home-and-away round of the season against St Kilda, which would serve as the farewell match for retiring former co-captains Jarrad McVeigh and Kieren Jack; he kicked four goals and took ten marks for the match to be among the best afield, as Sydney missed the finals for the first time with Franklin at the club.

Lance Franklin later joined pre-season training early with the club's first- to fourth-year players, having lost weight in an effort to overcome his injury problems and return to full training ahead of 2020.

Lance Franklin went on to miss the opening round match before the 2020 season was suspended due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Lance Franklin made his return in round 2 against the Adelaide Crows.

Lance Franklin kicked 3 on the day in front of a crowd of 23,946 and helped the Swans defeat the Crows by 33 points.

Lance Franklin was rested for round 3 with John Longmire stating it was part of his training program.

The next week Longmire stated Lance Franklin would be in the side for the round 4 clash against Essendon if he got through training without any worries.

Lance Franklin kicked 3 goals against Essendon where the Swans won by 3 points.

The Swans ultimately qualified for the 2022 AFL Grand Final, and in the week leading up to the Grand Final, Lance Franklin announced that he had re-signed for one more year, extending his career into 2023.

The Swans went on to lose to Geelong, with Lance Franklin restricted to 5 disposals for the match.

Lance Franklin was feted in the Swans' final home and away match of the season with a lap of honour at the half time break.

Lance Franklin has a variety of tattoos dedicated to his Indigenous heritage.

Lance Franklin has been open about his struggles with depression, partly in an effort to destigmatise the mental illness among Australian men, particularly in the AFL.

In 2009, Lance Franklin appeared alongside other AFL footballers in an AFL television advertisement titled "AFL: In a League of its Own", which featured prominent AFL players playing Australian rules football at famous sporting venues around the world, and in the middle of other sports being played, including basketball, Association football and American football.

Lance Franklin married former Miss Universe Australia model and Nine Network presenter Jesinta Campbell on 4 November 2016.