Lance Franklin Biography

Lance Franklin is escorted out of the CQ Bar in Melbourne after an altercation with other patrons, one of whom is believed to be a Collingwood footballer.

According to Channel 9's Footy Confidential, Franklin is alleged to have been approached in a cordial manner by two women and the footballer before behaving aggressively towards them.

Franklin denies the claims and has told the Hawthorn Football Club that he did not throw a drink at anyone.

Hawks chief executive Ian Robson says he is happy with Franklin's version of events and considers the matter as having been satisfactorily dealt with.

"After becoming aware of these additional allegations overnight I have spoken at length with Lance and a number of the other Hawthorn players and impartial witnesses who were in attendance on the night," said Robson.

"I am satisfied that there is no substance to the allegation relating to the throwing of a drink over patrons at the club and as to the allegation of the language that may have been used, Lance is unable to specifically recall what was said, however, denies it was of a sexual nature.

"In the absence of further information being brought forward the club now sees the matter as closed."

HAWTHORN star Lance "Buddy" Franklin said farewell to Darwin in style - with a night out at the Hookers and Deviates ball.

Lance Franklin is struggling to regain his fitness, but the Hawthorn hero aims to be ready for the start of the AFL season.

Luke Hodge, Lance Franklin and Trent Croad among nine Hawthorn premiership players to miss pre-season opener.

Lance Franklin and Luke Hodge are considered strong chances to return this week in Hawthorn's pre-season hitout against West Coast.

HAWTHORN big guns Luke Hodge and Lance Franklin will return to action this weekend in the Hawks' final pre-season hit-out against West Coast.

Hawthorn name Lance Franklin and Luke Hodge to play their first practice games of the year this weekend.

Hawthorn's Lance Franklin made a sizzling return to football, guiding the Hawks to an easy win over the Eagles.

AFL captains have shunned Hawthorn's Lance Franklin as their predicted Coleman medallist, and prefer Carlton over the Tigers as the season's bolter.

Sydney Swans coach Paul Roos says Lance Franklin and Jarryd Roughead will be remembered as two of the all-time great forwards.

Sydney coach Paul Roos calls Hawthorn pair Lance Franklin and Jarryd Roughead "formidable and phenomenal".

Franklin, last year's Coleman Medallist, said he hoped to remain with the Hawks for the rest of his career and took some early pride in being a one-club man.

"We know we've got a great group of boys who won a premiership last year and we want to keep having success," he said.

"That's going to keep the core group together and the leaders. We want to stick together and hopefully win some more premierships."

Adam Goodes and Lance Franklin fight over who will be the bigger drawcard at ANZ Stadium this weekend when the Swans take on the Hawks.

Geelong champion Gary Ablett is the confirmed No. 1 target of the Gold Coast team.

Football director Graeme Downie made the bold claim after the club was awarded the 17th AFL licence yesterday, which came as a complete surprise to some media.

Ablett, Lance Franklin and Nick Riewoldt, who come out of contract at the end of 2010, are firmly in the Gold Coast's sights.

Under the AFL's list building concessions, the club can sign one uncontracted player from each of the 16 clubs.

Lance Franklin vows to stay at Hawthorn for his whole career - potentially costing himself millions of dollars in wages at rival clubs.

West coast defender Eric Mackenzie is ready to face the challenge of playing on Lance Franklin according to coach John Worsfold.

Hawthorn has dismissed suggestions its powerhouse forward Lance Franklin is carrying extra weight which has decreased his output in 2009 compared to 2008.

"As he's got match-fit, his workrate is matching that of 2008," Hawthorn head of fitness and conditioning Andrew Russell said.

"As he's regained his match condition over the past few weeks, he's now matching his GPS workrate of 2008.

"But weight-wise, he might be slightly heavier than last year, but it isn't affecting his performance. He's a young man just filling out as his training-age is increasing."

Adelaide defender Nathan Bock is set to resume from a hamstring injury as the Crows prepare to tackle Hawthorn and Lance Franklin.

"'Bocky' trained over the weekend and is looking like being available. That will be a bonus for us in defence against a couple of key forwards for Hawthorn," teammate Ben Rutten said.

"If we get 'Bocky' back, obviously, he'll play a fairly big role in defence. He has played well on Franklin in the past, so it will be good to have him available for that contest."

Chance Bateman says Lance Franklin is feeling pressure to recapture last year's stunning form.

"If you compare it to last year, I think you're going to be disappointed most years," Bateman said.

"Last year was an outstanding year for him and I don't think there's been many full-forwards in the game who've been able to repeat that sort of effort.

"He definitely puts pressure on himself, he knows that he's important to us and he likes to take that challenge on himself, so he does get a bit disappointed in himself sometimes but that's part of being the player he is."

After a slow start to 2009, Lance Franklin believes he is back to his best again after taking six contested marks and kicking three goals against the Swans.

"Craig (Bolton) is probably one of the better defenders in the comp, but I came out of the game feeling pretty confident," Franklin said.

"My hands were probably the best they have been all year. I left the game pretty confident and looking forward to this week against Brisbane."

Lance Franklin's starring role against Sydney was good but he's about to get better, says the coach.

"We're really pleased with his attack on the ball and creating contests for us and that was probably an area of his game that had been a little bit down in previous weeks and he addressed that last week and that's when he plays his best footy. We're hopeful he'll be like that again this week," Hawthorn coach Alastair Clarkson said.

Super Hawk Buddy Franklin took advantage of the mid-season break to have a big night out at the soccer on Wednesday.

Franklin spent barely 10 minutes in his reserved MCG seat watching the Socceroos do battle with Japan, preferring to avail himself of Football Federation Australia's lavish hospitality.

He arrived with a mate about 7pm for the Ryder Room function for the FFA's sponsors and their guests.

Four goals in the last quarter from Lance Franklin kept Hawthorn's premiership defence alive with a come-from-behind win against North Melbourne yesterday. But a report of the full-forward for kneeing earlier in the match could have as big a say in how long that Hawk dream of back-to-back flags remains a possibility.

Melbourne forward Liam Jurrah can excite the crowd in a similar way to Hawthorn superstar Lance Franklin, according to Demon veteran Cameron Bruce.

"Every time he goes near the ball they get excited, I liken it to the way the crowd are with 'Buddy' and every time he went near the ball. It's something you don't experience too often," Bruce said.

"I was doing cartwheels in the backline, watching him go up for those marks."

Jarryd Roughead may have had a lower profile than his forward line mate, Lance Franklin, but he has beaten him to the 100-game milestone.

"I suppose playing with him every week is the best job in the world. I've got the best seat in the house to watch a bloke like him," Roughead said of Franklin.

"It's not just him though, I've been lucky to come in with all the young boys we have. I'm probably best mates with Jordy Lewis and Buddy. It's good to get out there each week and play with your mates."

Hawthorn coach Alastair Clarkson plans to speak to the umpires department about treatment handed out to Lance Franklin.

"We weren't too pleased with the way that he was monstered today," Clarkson said.

"We need to work through that with the umpiring department to try and rationalise why Buddy has to earn his free kicks in such a tough manner."

Hawk Chance Bateman says Lance Franklin is not worried about the treatment he receives from umpires despite Hawk coach Alastair Clarkson voicing his disapproval at the way the star forward had been treated.

"Lance isn't one to worry about the umpires," Bateman said.

"It all evens out, you'll get some good decisions and get some bad ones, that's footy."

Richmond is optimistic Brownlow medallist Ben Cousins will recover from the concussion he sustained after a clash with Hawk Lance Franklin in time to travel to Perth next week to face his former side West Coast.

"He looked a bit groggy still after the game, but he sat through the meeting and seemed to be engaging reasonably well. I haven't had a full debrief on him yet," caretaker coach Jade Rawlings said.

"It was a pretty big hit and he looked like he was pretty keen to stay on, but with the way he walked, he was heading in a totally different direction to where the interchange bench was, which suggested he was in a bad way."

Lance Franklin can accept a one-match suspension for rough conduct due to a head-high bump on Richmond's Ben Cousins during the Hawks' win over Richmond.

Accepting the ban will mean that Franklin misses out on a match against the Bombers that could give the Hawks 8th spot on the ladder and a chance to play in an elimination final.

Hawthorn football manager Mark Evans says the club wil take Lance Franklin's sanction to the tribunal on Tuesday night to contest a two-match suspension for his hit on Ben Cousins.

"I can't really comment on the case before we get there other than to say we've looked at it quite a bit and we don't believe that any player should be suspended for this," Evans told SEN radio.

"I think the best case here is to keep it nice and simple and to allow the tribunal members - who have all played football - to make their assessment from that."

The AFL tribunal found Hawthorn's Lance Franklin guilty of engaging in rough conduct against Ben Cousins on Tuesday night which means the star forward will not be available for an elimination final even if the Hawks beat Essendon this week.

"It didn't go our way so that's a very disappointing result for us," Hawthorn football manager Mark Evans said.

"I find it a little distressing that in summing up we can regard someone's conduct as reasonable, but they can still miss two matches.

"It's very disappointing and we'll be following that up with Adrian tomorrow."

Lance Franklin expresses his disappointment at being rubbed out for two matches by the tribunal after making high contact with Richmond's Ben Cousins.

The Hawks are considering taking Lance Franklin's two-match suspension to the AFL Appeals Board.

"Obviously I'm devastated. I'd love to be out there with the boys this weekend and the weekend after," he said.

Former AFL players Doug Hawkins and Tony Shaw slam Lance Franklin's two-match ban for head-high contact with Ben Cousins.

"They've got to get it right because as a kid growing up that's what footy was about. People say, 'Oh, Buddy didn't tackle', well guess what? You don't have to tackle, you used to be able to bump," Hawkins said.

"Two weeks for that is just ludicrous. I'm disillusioned by the whole situation and I think the sooner the AFL work it out the better. "

Former Collingwood captain Tony Shaw concurred with Hawkins' assessment.

"It is so embarrassing at the moment. I'm all for protecting heads and spinal injuries and all that sort of thing, but you do have contact on the field and I've been involved in bumping bigger blokes where you will hit your head on their body and it's stiff cheddar," Shaw said.

Lance Franklin's season is appears to be over after the AFL Appeals Board last night rejected his appeal over a rough conduct charge.

Suspended Hawthorn forward Lance Franklin syas the bump is dead and says that players need to adjust to the new rules of the game.

"If you're going to do a bump or just protect yourself and if it touches their head at all, you're going to be looking at weeks," he said on Triple M.

"I reckon you're going to have to try to tackle...if you've got time to react, put a tackle on. That's the smartest thing to do because I reckon the bump's gone out of the game now. It's a shame I think."

AFL superstar Lance Franklin is reported to have been involved in an apparent brawl at a Perth nightspot.

"I was on the way to the toilet when an altercation broke out and I copped one in the face," Franklin said in a statement.

"I'm fine, no real injury, it's just a bit disappointing to have that happen when you're out just trying to enjoy some time off with family and friends."

Hawthorn's Lance Franklin remains unsigned for 2011 and could be a potential target for the new Gold Coast team but says he is keen to stay at the Hawks.

"I'm up this year and I'll leave that up to my manager to sort that out," Franklin said.

"But obviously I'm keen to sign with the Hawks. They've been good to me since I've been here and it's a great club. It's more the media that talks it up than the players. I'll just concentrate on football."