{"id":388763,"date":"2024-04-28T07:48:34","date_gmt":"2024-04-28T07:48:34","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/?p=388763"},"modified":"2024-04-28T10:04:45","modified_gmt":"2024-04-28T10:04:45","slug":"buddy-fulfils-final-career-wish-in-emotional-mcg-scenes","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/?p=388763","title":{"rendered":"Buddy fulfils final career wish in emotional MCG scenes"},"content":{"rendered":"

Lance 'Buddy'\ufeff Franklin<\/a> has been officially farewelled from the game at the MCG, as part of the Hawthorn and Sydney clash on Sunday.<\/p>\n

Franklin retired during the 2023 season after injurying his calf<\/a>, closing the chapter on one of the most decorated and exciting careers in the game's history.<\/p>\n

The superstar forward played for both the Hawks and Swans, kicking 1066 goals across 354 games, winning two premierships, eight All-Australian blazers and four Coleman Medals during an illustrious career.<\/p>\n

FOLLOW LIVE:<\/strong> NRL round eight Sunday<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

READ MORE:<\/strong> 'Not for everyone': Joey's passionate Bulldogs defence<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n<\/p>\n

READ MORE:\ufeff<\/strong> 'Don't ask it': Benji bites back at 'silly question'<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

Franklin was farewelled at the end of last season in front of adoring Swans fans at the SCG, but felt his career, which began at Hawthorn, needed its own closure.<\/p>\n

Franklin undertook a lap on honour with his children Tullulah and Rocky, alongside former Hawthorn teammates Jarryd Roughead and Jordan Lewis' kids.\ufeff<\/p>\n

\"Franklin's<\/p>\n

It was something the former Hawthorn forward felt he needed to do.\ufeff<\/p>\n

"It was really important to me. I wanted to come back and thank all the Hawthorn fans\ufeff," Franklin told friend Lewis at the MCG on Sunday.<\/p>\n

"It's the home of football, isn't it? There's no better stadium in Australia. I absolutely loved my time playing football here\ufeff."<\/p>\n

Franklin also made a special effort to thank the Hawthorn cheer squad, something he hadn't had a chance to do before moving to the Swans on a mega deal back in 2014.\ufeff<\/p>\n

https:\/\/twitter.com\/HawthornFC\/status\/1784455510886166892<\/a><\/p>\n

But in true Franklin fashion, he didn't want to spotlight to be solely on him.\ufeff<\/p>\n

"It's all about family, Roughy's kids, Lewis' kids and my kids here today\ufeff," he said.<\/p>\n

"19 years on from when we were first drafted, to be here today, who would have thought? It's an incredible moment for us.\ufeff"<\/p>\n

\"Franklin's<\/p>\n

Franklin was welcomed back to Waverley, the club's home training base during the week by former teammate – now club coach – Sam Mitchell.\ufeff<\/p>\n

"I went to the club yesterday, Sam Mitchell got me down with the kids. I absolutely loved it, brought back so many memories, that's for sure," he said.<\/p>\n

\ufeffFranklin was a six-time leading goalkicker at the Hawks and a seven-time winner with Sydney.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Lance 'Buddy'\ufeff Franklin has been officially farewelled from the game at the MCG, as part of the Hawthorn and Sydney clash on Sunday. Franklin retired […]<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":388754,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[1],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/388763"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=388763"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/388763\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":388767,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/388763\/revisions\/388767"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/388754"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=388763"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=388763"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=388763"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}