Buddy Franklin sparked crazy crowd celebrations on and off the field as he kicked his 1,000th AFL goal at the SCG, triggering a huge pitch invasion by thousands of fans.
The 35-year-old Sydney Swans key forward booted the massive milestone with six minutes to go in the final quarter on Friday evening, prompting amazing scenes.
Fans swarmed onto the ground from all directions, with six-foot-six Franklin disappearing in a sea of smiles.
The images of him being swamped in a tsunami of celebration quickly went global with footage of the joyful mob spreading around the world.
And they immediately sparked a series of hilarious memes online – with one quick-witted fan even putting a handful of the hallowed SCG turf up for sale on Facebook.
Buddy Franklin sparked crazy crowd celebrations on and off the field as he kicked his 1000th AFL goal at the SCG, triggering a huge pitch invasion by thousands of fans
One quick-witted fan put a handful of the hallowed SCG turf up for sale on Facebook in used condition but like new – with a $1000 pricetag
An overjoyed Sydney Swans fan celebrates after Buddy Franklin kicked his 1,000th AFL goal
He posted a photograph of himself holding the grass in front of the chaos erupting around Franklin, and put it up for grabs with a hefty $1,000 price tag.
‘The grass that Buddy Franklin was standing on when he kicked his 1,000th career goal,’ the fan posted on Facebook marketplace.
‘Grown at the Sydney Cricket Ground (SCG). Mint condition.’
The landmark moment brought unprecedented jubilation, halting the game for 33 minutes as stewards, security and police battled to regain control and clear the pitch,
The star vanished in the thronging mass of fans all trying to touch their hero on his biggest night, which was captured in stunning photos of the chaotic scenes.
Footy pundit Daniel Garb quipped the dense knot of red and white clad fans and players was the ‘…toughest game of Where’s Wally I’ve ever played.’
Among the first to congratulate Buddy online were Federal opposition leader Anthony Albanese, one of the game’s greatest voices – Gerard Whateley, and The Project co-host Peter Helliar.
The Labor leader called Buddy ‘a genuine superstar who we all agree the game is so much better for their involvement.’
Helliar added: ‘Very rare for a player of elite quality to rarely draw the envious ire of opposition supporters.
‘But occasionally there is a genuine superstar who we all agree the game is so much better for their involvement. Buddy is that player! Drawing nothing but love/awe.’
Rival clubs joined the celebrations with messages of congratulations to Buddy Franklin
Buddy’s dreadlocked dad summed it best and simplest. ‘He’s a gun,’ said Lance Franklin Snr.
Bitter rivals Collingwood posted: ‘That was real special’. Adelaide Crows added: ‘Congratulations …a huge achievement’ which was echoed by Fremantle Dockers.
Other fans were less generous – and one disgruntled Hawks fan made sure everyone knew where Franklin scored most of his goals.
Nat Edwards pointed out on Twitter that 580 of Buddy’s goals were ‘kicked in the glorious brown and gold.’
Others said they missed the golden moment altogether despite being at the ground.
Fan Sam Landsberger said he couldn’t seen anything but the ‘back of the lady’s head in the seat in front’.
In the midst of the mayhem, one fan was accidentally flattened by Geelong Cats star Zach Tuohy and dropped his wallet without noticing before running on to join in the celebrations.
But despite the tidal wave of fans running onto the pitch, Tuohy spotted the wallet, bent over and picked it up – and then chased after the fan to return it to him.
The Sydney Swans and Hawthorn great became only the sixth player in the history of the VFL/AFL to hit the milestone when he kicked straight and long 18 minutes into the final term.
He was instantly swamped by fans as his teammates tried to form a protective ring around him, lost in a sea of hands filming the occasion on their phones.
Swans diehards had no trouble swamping the field in their thousands despite the fact dozens of security guards were stationed around the boundary fence.
Franklin leaps for joy with two teammates after kicking his 1,000th goal. Seconds later he was absolutely swamped by ecstatic fans
Franklin yells with joy as he’s ringed by thousands of fans – enough to cover most of the SCG playing surface
Dozens of security guards were stationed around the boundary fence but they had no hope of stopping the human tsunami
Lance Franklin of the Swans is surrounded by fans after kicking his 1000th goal
Images of the SCG playing surface being completely taken over by fans prompted astonished Seven commentator James Brayshaw to say: ‘I’ve never seen scenes like that at a sporting event anywhere’
Franklin’s fellow Swans were the first to reach him after his 1,000 soared through the posts – but the fans weren’t far behind
Lost in a sea of hands: Franklin is somewhere in the middle of this huge throng of fans, who swept onto the SCG in unprecedented numbers
An aerial shot showed almost all of the playing surface completely covered by overjoyed fans, who showed no signs of returning to their seats for more than 20 minutes after the ball sailed through the posts.
Prior to Franklin, only Tony Lockett (1,360), Gordon Coventry (1,299), Jason Dunstall (1,254), Doug Wade (1,057) and Gary Ablett senior (1,031) had reached that summit.
The wild images astonished commentators, with Channel Seven’s James Brayshaw commenting, ‘I’ve never seen scenes like that at a sporting event anywhere.’
‘Surreal. It was an amazing moment, it really was,’ Franklin said after he finally made it off the ground.
‘A lot of hard work to get there. I’ve been playing for 18 years. A lot of hard work to get there but I wouldn’t be able to get there with out having great teammates around me to provide those assists.
‘It’s something I’ll cherish forever.’
The huge throng of fans was so large and packed so tight it took police and security several minutes to reach Franklin, who was eventually hustled off the ground and down the tunnel
Asked if he was freaked out by the crowd, Franklin replied, ‘No, I had the taste of Carlton Draught in my mouth from someone.’
It took several minutes for police and security to reach Franklin, who eventually made it over the fence, where he was greeted by elated teammates and taken down the tunnel as his fellow players high-fived him.
Play had to be stopped for 33 minutes in order to clear the crowd from the field.
Franklin had four goals left to reach the mark after the round one game against GWS, and he notched major 997 on the stroke of quarter time against Geelong.
He kicked goal 998 in the 18th minute of the third quarter, with his 999th coming 10 minutes later, before he was taken off for a short breather eight minutes into the final term.
Buddy salutes the crowd. It took 33 minutes to clear them off the SCG so play could resume, with the Swans running out 30-point winners over Geelong
A security guard stops an overexcited fan from trying to shimmy up one of the goalposts in the middle of all the mayhem
The biggest goal of his life was recorded not long after he returned to the field.
The 35-year-old has been a consistently prolific goalscorer ever since he made his AFL debut as a 17-year-old.
Now in his 18th year in professional football, Franklin has led his clubs’ goal charts in 12 separate seasons – six times for Hawthorn and six times for the Swans.
In half of his 16 completed seasons he’s kicked over 50 goals and he kicked a mammoth 113 goals in the 2008 season.
He’s booted nine goals on three separate occasions and has passed the double-digit mark in a single game twice, with his personal best coming when he kicked 13 against North Melbourne in 2013.
Franklin’s off days have been few and far between. An eight-time All Australian, including once as captain, Franklin is a four-time Coleman medallist and won the premiership twice, once with the Hawks and once with Sydney.
His longevity has been almost as remarkable as his goalscoring record. Aside from missing the 2020 season through injury, the Western Australia native has never played fewer than 10 games in a season.
Despite the cascade of individual accolades, opponents have often hailed Franklin as the ultimate team player.
An ecstatic Franklin celebrates with teammates as the first wave of the crowd is just about to wash over him
‘The thing you don’t notice or doesn’t get talked about with Buddy is how good a teammate he is,’ Port’s fullback Tom Jonas said.
‘He is always bringing his other forwards into it. He’s really supportive of them […] brings them into the game, communicates really strongly with them.
‘He is not just a one-man band.’
Jonas has lined up against Franklin several times and admits he was taken aback by the Swans star’s presence.
‘You’re always pretty nervous,’ he said.
The mark before the storm: Franklin clutches the ball seconds before reaching the milestone
Franklin is a four-time Coleman medallist and has won one premiership with Hawthorn and another with the Sydney Swans
‘He cuts a serious figure. He has got an aura and a presence around him on the field […] he has that strut and the chest puffed out.’
The feelings are echoed by Richmond defender Dylan Grimes.
‘He has got the full package of ability,’ he said. ‘He’s the hardest player I have ever played on because he’s got that speed, endurance and is an amazing finisher.
‘He doesn’t need much of a chance to really damage a game, he’ll take it every time.’
‘He is almost impossible to plan for,’ Port Adelaide coach Ken Hinkley told AAP.
‘He has got such a kit, the bag of stuff that he can do and draw on is so big and so wide and so exciting.
‘You sit there trying to control and do your absolute best, but knowing the talent […] is very, very hard to stop.
‘You hope he has an off day because his on days are unstoppable […] just too good.’
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