Introduction and Early Life
Lance Franklin is a professional Australian Rules football player that currently plays for the Hawthorn Hawks Football Club. He was born on January 30, 1987 in Perth, West Australia; and is of indigenous Australian descent. Lance is about 1.96 meters tall, has a large frame and weighs about 101 kilograms. He is a very versatile utility player that plays in the centre half-forward positions as well as the midfield position too. He wears the jersey number 23 and is fondly called «Buddy». He used to play for Perth in Western Australia in his early football days from where he was drafted with the number 4 pick into the Australian Football League (AFL) by the Hawthorn Hawks F.C in the 2004 national AFL draft.
Early Professional Career
Before beginning his professional football career, Lance had played his early days representing Western Australia at the National Under 18 Carnival. Lance made his debut appearance in the first round of the 2005 season. He played extremely well that year especially considering the fact that this was his first season in the AFL. He finished the season playing 20 games out of the total 22 games and contributing 27 goals. This can be considered as a good performance for his first season. He had a serious setback to his performance the following season as a result of injuries he sustained on his ankle and hand early in the 2006 season. he made it back during the 9th round. During the 12th round, Lance displayed a great performance that saw him kick 6 goals in the match against Richmond.
Before the end of the 2006 season, Lance renewed his contract and extended his stay at Hawthorn Hawks by another two years. Prior to this, he was widely speculated to be a subject of attraction by clubs like Essendon, West Coast, and Fremantle. The 2007 season was a great one for Lance. He finished the season with 63 goals placing him third in the Coleman Medal in the entire AFL that season. He also finished the season in the number three position in the club’s Best and Fairest Awards, as well as the leading goal kicker for Hawthorn Hawks.
Professional Career Achievements
Lance Franklin kept improving consistently and in 2008 he won the Coleman Medal for kicking a total of 102 goals during the season. He also featured in the Dream Team where he kicked four goals during the AFL Hall of Fame Tribute Match. He was the first Aboriginal player to reach this feat in the AFL. He won the AFL premiership this year with Hawthorn Hawks and also won the Peter Cummins Medal which is the Best and Fairest Award in the club. The 2009 season was not particularly a good one for him as he had to undergo surgery for injury on his thumb and shoulder, as a fall out of the previous season. After returning to play, his performances were not the same as that of the previous season. he lost one of his teeth during a ball contest in a match and was also suspended for two games as a result of rough play against a Richmond player in a match.
He had a good season in 2010 but cannot be said to be exceptional. His performance in some matches was extremely brilliant but not in all the matches and he has continued in a similar manner in the current season. He is said to be dating an Australian model and is quite glad about his heritage.