Port Adelaide legend Kane Cornes has doubled down on his opinion that Swans superstar Lance Franklin isn’t a top 50 player in the AFL after getting into a debate with leading journalist Sam McClure.
Franklin since Friday has been the biggest talking point in the AFL after he became the sixth player in VFL/AFL history to cross the magical 1000-goal barrier.
The 35-year-old, who has now played 320 games since making his debut in 2005, comes into 2022 following a stunning revival last season.
READ MORE: Key mission facing Latrell and co. pinpointed
READ MORE: Mercedes: ‘No way’ car will be competitive soon
READ MORE: Franklin re-united with milestone ball
Having missed all of 2020 due to injury, Franklin bounced back in 2021 by booting 51 goals in 18 games played, averaging 2.8 goals per game, which was just short of his impressive 3.1 career average.
During Monday’s edition of Nine’s Footy Classified, Cornes and his fellow panellist clashed over where they both ranked the Sydney forward.
McClure: Did you have Buddy Franklin in your top 50 at the start of the year?
Cornes: No I didn’t. I don’t do a top 50, but I know someone else had him at 11, and I said on radio that I wouldn’t have him in my top 50.
It feels disrespectful to talk about that right now because it’s a trivial point. We’re celebrating one of the most memorable moments in the game.
McClure: You’ve been around too long to get out of an argument by saying it feels trivial.
If you lined up 800 players in the competition at the end of last season, Buddy Franklin has just kicked 50 and you don’t have him in the best 50 players.
Cornes: Did you have Taylor Walker in there who kicked 48 in a lesser side than Sydney? Did you have Ben King?
McClure: Ben King and Taylor Walker haven’t done what Buddy Franklin has done over the last 17 years.
Cornes: If it’s only on goals, the previous two seasons he has hardly played.
I don’t think Buddy Franklin is in the top half a dozen key forwards right now.
McClure: Is he in the best 50 players in the game?
Cornes: No, he’s not in the top six or seven per cent, so I wouldn’t have him in the top 50.
McClure then pressed Bombers great Matthew Lloyd on the debate of whether Franklin is a current top 50 player.
Lloyd, a three-time Coleman Medallist who booted more than 900 goals in his career, said he wants to see how Sydney uses Franklin this season before he could be sure of where Franklin sits in the pecking order.
“I can understand his (Cornes) view, I’m not sure by the end of the year if he will still be there. I’m not sure where Buddy is at with his footy at the moment,” Lloyd said.
“They’re not using him a lot anymore. I’m seriously interested to see how he goes.”