As soon as the star's knee buckled at the MCG last Friday night and as he was assisted from the ground, the amateur orthopedic surgeons among us cranked into action, trying to determine the prognosis.
ACL? Season-ending? Would he even see any of next season? When was the last time the Hawks won a big game without Buddy and Roughy (key forward Jarryd Roughead, out for the year with a ruptured Achilles)?
By the following morning, the scans were back. The ACL was intact, the bone was only bruised and Buddywatch, or #buddywatch as it became known on Twitter, was underway.
Not a day passed without someone - anyone - from Hawthorn being asked about the state of Franklin's knee. And over the course of the week, it progressed from him maybe being able to play in the preliminary or Grand Final if the Hawks make it that far, through to Thursday's massive pronouncement from Hawks coach Alastair Clarkson that Franklin will be named in the side to take on the Sydney Swans in the second semi-final, and is expected to play.
He might not get there just yet, but if he does, then Franklin joins an imposing list of AFL stars who have overcome injuries - and the accompanying media glare - to run out and play in a final.
1948: Jack Mueller and Norm Smith (Melbourne): The grizzled old veterans of the Demons, aged 33 and 32 respectively, both nursed torn thigh muscles at the start of the finals. The Demon match committee would vigorously debate how many matches each player had in the tank for the finals. In the end, Mueller played three and Smith all four (the Grand Final ended in a draw).
1990: Darren Millane (Collingwood): Broke his thumb three weeks out before the finals, but didn't miss a game for the rest of the season. His thumb was placed in a splint after every match, which was then removed just before each game. Was cradling the footy when the final siren went in the Grand Final, in one of the most iconic footy moments of the time.
1995: Fraser Brown (Carlton): Introduced the hyperbaric chamber to AFL football when he injured his ankle in the preliminary final and faced an uphill battle to make it to the Grand Final, which he eventually did. Had 21 possessions in the decider against the Cats, although 12 of them were handballs, which might tell us something about the true condition of his ankle.
1996: Corey McKernan (North Melbourne): Injured his lateral ligament in the early stages of the preliminary final against the Brisbane Bears and was kept off his feet for the lead-up to the Grand Final. Ended up playing in the big one and had 29 possessions to be one of his side's best players.
1999: Anthony Stevens (North Melbourne): Those who saw Anthony Stevens hobble from the MCG with a fractured foot in the '99 preliminary final immediately discounted his hopes of playing the following week. He didn't train all week and was kept off his feet, but he somehow made it into the side for the Grand Final. He had 12 possessions in the win over Carlton - all kicks.
2003: Nigel Lappin (Brisbane Lions): Suffered a broken rib during the preliminary final courtesy of some friendly fire from teammate Shaun Hart and his health was a major talking point all through the week, particularly after teammate Jason Akermanis broke team protocol and spoke about the extent of the injury. Was given until the afternoon before the Grand Final to prove his fitness and was tested out during a searching fitness test at Melbourne's Albert Ground. Only then was he passed fit to play and he played a serviceable Grand Final.
2008: Luke Hodge (Hawthorn): Came up spitting blood after having his ribs crashed into during the preliminary final against St Kilda. Insisted all week in the lead-up that he'd be right to go in the Grand Final, to the skepticism of some. Laughed in the face of Geelong's Matthew Stokes when the Geelong forward poked him in the ribs during the opening skirmishes of the Grand Final and ended up winning the North Smith Medal.
2010: Alan Didak (Collingwood): The Pies played down his late season shoulder injury in order to throw the opposition and the media off the scent. Like many players, he went through the finals series with his shoulder heavily strapped and only afterwards was it revealed that he had been through September with a torn pectoral muscle.
AND TWO WHO DIDN'T…
1982: Mick Malthouse (Richmond): Broke his collarbone while playing in the second semi-final and didn't train for 12 days until a famous - and fateful Thursday night training session at Punt Road. On a dark distant corner away from prying eyes, Tigers coach Francis Bourke kept pummeling and pummeling his tough back pocket to see what the collarbone would withstand. After several goes, it popped out and a heartbroken Malthouse missed out on the Grand Final, which Richmond lost to Carlton.
1987: Jason Dunstall (Hawthorn): This was the year that Dunstall emerged as a star full-forward but he strained a hamstring in the second semi-final. Like Malthouse, Dunstall was worked hard on the Thursday night before the Grand Final and didn't quite come up. Later he claimed that he did more during the fitness test than he would have in the game.
