GRAND Finals might be about two teams, 44 players, 120 minutes of gut-busting effort – but who are we kidding? This Grand Final was all about Buddy.

 

The Hawthorn players knew it.

 

When Lance Franklin, their erstwhile teammate, had a shot at goal in the first quarter, Hawks lined up in a seething guard of dishonour as he ran in to kick.

 

No other Swans gathered quite as much interest as they kicked for goal.

 

It was the same later in the match, despite the result being a long foregone conclusion.

You could have sworn that Buddy was kicking after the siren to win the flag as six Hawthorn players jumped around on and near the mark, arms waving, mouths shouting comments that might well have centred on the topic of $10 million and nine years.

 

A year ago, Lance Franklin was one of them. Now he was the enemy.

 

Not just any enemy, but one who had bought his way into that special category of opponent who earns pantomime boos every time he gets near the ball.

 

Pre-match it was all about Cyril and Buddy. Would one play? How well would the other?

 

Rioli, of course, did play. And Buddy was probably the best for a team that was thrashed.

 

He started with his great mate Josh Gibson opposed to him, and at different times found himself manned by Brian Lake and Matt Spangher.

 

In the first half Franklin took a great diving mark, was bumped all-too-easily off the ball by Gibson, sprayed the ball all over the place, kicked truly from the goal square, ran purposefully off the wing and generally caused havoc of one sort or another wherever he want.

 

By half-time he had two of the Swans' five goals but he started the third quarter on the centre wing and spent the term in the centre of the action.

Franklin had just three disposals for the quarter but the best and worst of Buddy was on show.

 

He ran forward of the ball at a contest and picked up the Sherrin superbly at full pace, promptly booting it out on the full. Gibson, however, celebrated Franklin's mistake a little too enthusiastically with a solid bump and gave away a free down the ground to Kurt Tippett.

 

Buddy won a free against Jordan Lewis and remonstrated at his ex-teammate's physical approach, but the highlight came a little later when he and Luke Hodge had a tete-a-tete that ended up channelling Dermott Brereton and Billy Duckworth all those years ago - a bit of push and shove ending with the Hawthorn skipper planting a smooch on Buddy's hairy chin. 

Love never fades.

 

And so it was after the final siren. Franklin had kicked four goals and taken five contested marks and been a constant threat but now he was standing, hands on hips on the 50m arc at the city end, staring into the middle distance as the Hawks celebrated.

 

Eventually Gibson sought him out, and they hugged but Franklin looked lost and alone, wandering towards the Members' Stand in a kind of daze.

 

Eventually he followed Adam Goodes towards the Hawthorn huddle, and he embraced his former comrades, one after another. First Bradley Hill, then Roughy, then Shaun Burgoyne, all through the ranks.

 

He endured the presentations, but Franklin was later the first Swan to leave the dressing rooms, to sit alone on the team bus.

 

Love hurts.