The Hawks won the Telstra Dome clash 24.15 (159) to 12.9 (81), after Buddy reached the ton in the opening term in front of 49,057 spectators – many of whom ran onto the field after the talented forward slotted the defining goal.
Franklin becomes the first player since St Kilda's Fraser Gehrig (2004), and the first Hawk since Jason Dunstall (1996) to reach the century. His is just the 56th ton in AFL history.
But while it was elation for Buddy and the Hawks, it was a different story down the other end of the ground, with Carlton's Brendan Fevola entering the game requiring eight goals to reach his own ton.
Fev booted seven for the night – all of which came in the second half – to fall an agonising one goal short. He suffered as a result of the Blues losing the midfield battle to Sam Mitchell, Jordan Lewis and Brad Sewell early on.
Luke Hodge was brilliant in his first match back from suspension with 32 possessions, while Lewis was excellent with 35 and Campbell Brown solid in another cameo attacking role.
For the Blues, it was all about the young guns, with Bryce Gibbs and Marc Murphy leading the charge, while Chris Judd was in impressive touch.
All eyes were on the Hawks' forward line at the opening bounce, with young Western Australian defender Paul Bower going to Buddy in the goal square.
The occasion seemed to buoy Buddy early, with the 21-year-old notably enthusiastic and hard at the contest, giving away two free kicks for obvious pushes in the back.
He managed just one tackle for the first 10 minutes, but finally recorded his first kick of the match at the 21-minute mark, when he slotted a goal after marking in front of Bower.
celebrations erupted at the 25-minute mark when he sealed the milestone, converting a set shot from 25 metres before the crowd swarmed onto the ground, halting play for 10 minutes.
Hawthorn got off to a fast start, and while Buddy struggled to get the ball early on, the side's other forwards in Cyril Rioli, Mark Williams and Roughead were prolific in the opening stages.
The Hawks booted the first two, which were promptly answered by Cameron Cloke and Judd up the other end, but that's where the scoring proficiency for the Blues ended.
The Buddy ton interrupted play as the term drew to a close and it was the Hawks that responded to the impromptu break better, emerging to kick a late goal through Rioli and to take a 25-point lead into the second term.
The Blues managed just two goals in the second, while the Hawks put through four to cruise out to a 38-point lead at the main break.
The third quarter belonged to Fevola as he inched towards his century, but the Hawks remained dominant to kick 6.6 in response to lead by 55 points at the final change.
In the last quarter, the crowd – including the Hawthorn supporters – were on Fevola's side as the spearhead kicked another three goals to leave him stranded on 99 for the season.
Carlton is now headed for Mad Monday, ending its season on 10 wins, 12 losses, while Hawthorn can look forward to a qualifying final with the Western Bulldogs next weekend.
Carlton 2.3 4.5 8.6 12.9 (81)
Hawthorn 6.4 10.7 16.13 24.15 (159)
GOALS
Carlton: Fevola 7, Gibbs 2, Cloke, Judd, Russell,
Hawthorn: Roughead 5, Franklin 4, Williams 3, Brown 3, Osborne 3, Rioli, Lewis, Hodge, Campbell, Sewell, Bateman
BEST
Carlton: Judd, Murphy, Gibbs, Fevola, Thornton, Walker, Bentick
Hawthorn: Hodge, Mitchell, Lewis, Sewell, Birchall, Brown, Roughead
INJURIES
Carlton: Scotland (hip), Carrazzo (knee) replaced in selected side by Austin, Pfeiffer Hawthorn: Stokes (gastro) replaced in selected side by Ellis, Williams (hip)
REPORTS
Carlton: N Stevens (by emergency umpire K Nicholls for wrestling C Bateman)
Hawthorn: C Bateman (by emergency umpire K Nicholls for wrestling N Stevens)
Umpires: Kennedy, Stevic, McLaren
Official crowd: 49,057 at Telstra Dome
The views in this article are those of the author and not necessarily those of the club.
