By Daniel Brettig
June 16th 2008 @ 7:24am
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Report has Hawks buddy nervous
Lance Franklin and Hawthorn face a nervous wait for the AFL match review panel’s assessment after his report for high contact on Adelaide’s Michael Doughty during the Hawks’ narrow win over the Crows at AAMI Stadium.
And given the varying verdicts handed out over the past few weeks, it is virtually impossible to predict the fate awaiting “Buddy”.
Franklin attempted a shirtfront that slipped high to apply a glancing blow to Doughty’s face during the second term and was immediately reported by field umpire Stuart Wenn.
Doughty had been pulled down slightly by a concurrent tackle from Hawks midfielder Michael Osborne.
The incident appeared to shake up Franklin at the time, and his next attempt on goal sailed wildly out of bounds on the full.
His unease may have arisen from the knowledge that the panel has been red hot in penalising most kinds of contact to the head this season, though Adam Goodes’ escape for his collision with Eagle Adam Selwood last week provides some hope of reprieve.
It is fair to suggest the likes of Shaun Burgoyne, Robert Murphy, Brett Burton and fellow Hawk Ben McGlynn will look on with plenty of interest after all were banned for terms ranging from one to four games for high contact that ranged from negligent to incidental.
In the minutes following the game, Hawthorn officials were heard earnestly asking journalists what they thought of the incident, and the official verdict on Franklin, currently the game’s hottest property, is destined to be a talking point for the rest of the week.
Also of interest last night was the move of Franklin into the middle of the ground to escape the clutches of Crows defender Nathan Bock.
In explaining why he had made the switch, Hawthorn coach Alistair Clarkson made the somewhat scary observation that Franklin’s talent meant he was potentially one of Hawthorn’s better midfielders if ever required to fill that role.
Given Jarryd Roughead’s ever increasing level of authority as a marking target, expect Franklin to roam up the ground again in future.
“Moving Franklin into the midfield in the latter part of the game certainly helped us and gave us some real flow,” Clarkson said.
“With (Chance) Bateman going down we didn’t have the run and fluency through the middle to penetrate the Adelaide midfield.
“We tried a number of things but in the end we thought Lance going into the midfield might give us a little bit of run that we needed, and as it turned out it was an important move for us.
“He is probably in our best three or four endurance runners at the club, and in the top three or four for speed too.
“That’s a pretty formidable athlete when you think that he’s six foot, six inches to boot.
“At different stages we will play him through the midfield, but to date we’ve really needed him up forward.”
Clarkson said the full extent of Chance Bateman’s hamstring injury, and therefore his amount of time on the sidelines, was yet to be determined.
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