Superstar Hawks forward Lance Franklin needs just two goals in Saturday’s round 22 match against Carlton to become the first man since Tony Lockett in 1998 to boot 100 goals in a season.
Adding to the intrigue at Telstra Dome on Saturday night is that Franklin’s opposite number, Blues’ spearhead Brendan Fevola, sits on 92 goals coming into what is certainly his last match of the season.
The rest of the city might have gone ‘Buddy’ mad, but Clarkson insisted on Friday morning that the ‘Buddy ton’ was not a focus for his club.
In fact, Clarkson said he wasn’t even fussed if Franklin’s milestone was reached or not this weekend.
“Strangely enough it is not something we focus on enormously, in terms of the 100 goals,” Clarkson said before the side’s light session at Waverley Park.
“We are more interested in getting our structures right and playing good football leading into the finals.
"If he only kicks one, but our team kicks 15 or 20 goals and we win the game, then we're not too fussed with that.
"It's a hysterical theme outside our footy club, but within our footy club it’s: ‘stick to the structures and what we do well’.
"If we do it well enough, we'll get over the line against Carlton."
Clarkson said the coaching group had not issued any orders to the midfield regarding targets in the forward 50m arc.
"We're pretty cold and ruthless as a coaching group,” Clarkson said.
"Our blokes just get the ball in the middle of the ground and kick to the best target available.
"On a lot of occasions, because of the way he demands the ball and how well he's been able to execute the skills of the game, he's been the focal point on frequent occasions, but there's certainly no directive from the coaching staff."
But Clarkson admitted it would be good to get Franklin’s 100 goal milestone out of the way.
"I think it's only natural that the sooner it gets out of the way, the sooner it becomes less of a distraction for our side and the wider football community."
