Lance Franklin has become the fourth youngest player in AFL history to reach 900 goals. The all-time top 10 goal-kickers in AFL history are: 1360 – Tony Lockett 1299 – Gordon Coventry 1254 – Jason Dunstall 1057 – Doug Wade 1030 – Gary Ablett Snr 970 – Jack Titus 926 – Matthew Lloyd 915 – Leigh Matthews 899 – Lance Franklin 874 – Peter McKenna. And the way Lance Franklin is tracking, he’ll reach the magical four-figure goal mark with ease, according to several AFL greats. McKenna is quickest to each of the next five big milestones: 300 goals (76 games), 400 goals (92 games), 500 goals (107 games), 600 goals (124 games) and 700 goals (141 games).
Lockett was quickest to 900 goals in terms of games at 184, followed by Dunstall 188, Gary Ablett Snr 220, Gordon Coventry 224, Doug Wade 226, Matthew Lloyd 258 and Jack Titus 266. Franklin, at 31 years and 166 days, headed into Sunday’s match against North Melbourne at Etihad Stadium needing just one goal to become the ninth member of the League’s 900 Goal Club.
Among the top 10, Franklin sits 9th in games played to reach 100 goals, 7th to 200 and 300 goals, 8th to 400, 500, 600 and 700, and 9th to 800 and 900. And Lockett was quickest to 800 goals (165 games), 900 goals (184 games) and 1000 goals (201 games). He kicked 14-4-12-7-3-7-10-5-11-5-5-10-8 in that time. When Franklin joined the Swans in 2014 he had kicked 580 goals. Lance Franklin of Sydney Swans career AFL statistics : ... 13 marks and 9 goals in Rd 21 71-pt win over St Kilda at the SCG (16 Aug 2014) 23 disps (22 kicks 1 hballs), 11 marks, 6 tackles and 13 goals in Rd 10 115-pt win over North Melbourne at UTAS Stadium (2 Jun 2012) He previously played for the Hawthorn Football Club from 2005 to 2013. Regarded as the greatest forward of his generation and among the greatest players of all time, Franklin is the seventh-highest goalkicker in VFL/AFL historywith 944 career goals, the most of any current player, and has led his clubs' goalkicking on eleven occasions … ‘Buddy’ reached 900 goals in his 284th game to sit eighth on the games list among this extraordinary group.
Matthews took 324 games.
Only Jason Dunstall (29 years, 15 days), Tony Lockett (29 years 24 days) and Matthew Lloyd (31 years 16 days) have reached this massive milestone at a younger age. Having been raised under the mantra "follow your dreams" and being told they were special, … The quickest 100-goal block among this group is Ablett’s 13-game charge from 600 goals to 700 goals in 1993. Sydney Swans co-captain Luke Parker has another accolade to add to his achievements…, AFL Talent Ambassador Kevin Sheehan reveals his top AFL Draft Prospects - medium…, South Melbourne won its first VFL premiership by two points over Carlton in front of…. He kicked 4-5-2-2-1-7-3 to close out the 2007 season, and then 6-4-5-6-8-1-6-6-3-5-9-1-1-5-4-3-4 in 2008.
A comparison of the relative ages and games played at the 100-goal milestones of the top 10 goal-kickers of all-time is fascinating – although the comparison is skewed because goals in the modern era, in which Franklin has played his entire time with the Swans, are so much harder to come by. The days of really big bags appear largely gone. The wildcard in the discussion is Peter Hudson. Franklin’s famous and career-best 13 goals came in a game for Hawthorn in 2012 and he has topped 10 goals twice in his career. Using games played as the measuring stick rather than age, Wade has been quickest among the top 10 goal-kickers all-time to 100 goals (29 games) and 200 goals (58 games). Franklin went past McKenna in Round 4 this season to move to ninth spot on the all-time list, and with a big finish he could pass Leigh Matthews and Matthew Lloyd before the end of the season.
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Superstar forward Lance Franklin kicked the highest individual score of the AFL season, booting eight goals against Brisbane to propel the Swans to their first win after six losses.
He kicked 8-5-5-6-6-9-12-3-5 in his last nine games of 1989, and 10-9-2-7-7 in his first five games of 1990. NOW there’s just 100 more goals to go.