Buddy Franklin

Lance ‘Buddy’ Franklin grew up in Dowerin, WA with his mother Ursula, a Whadjuk-Noongar woman, father, Lance Snr and sister, Bianca. Buddy’s AFL career is one of the greatest in Australian Rules Football having kicked over 1,023 goals, the most of any current player and the sixth-most in VFL/AFL history.

In his career to date, Buddy has won two premierships, eight All-Australian selections, four Coleman Medals and a Peter Crimmins Medal in his time at Hawthorn and Sydney. He has also represented Australia in the 2013 International Rules Series.

Buddy is also a staunch advocate for the rights of Indigenous Australians. In 2017 he was one of a number of players to wear the number 67 on his back during Sir Doug Nicholls round in commemoration of the 1967 Referendum to fully include Indigenous Australians in the census.

He has also been a champion for mental health – being open about his struggles with depression in an effort to destigmatise the mental illness among Australian men, particularly in the AFL.