Clarko hails a "special effort"
Lance Franklin's 100-goal milestone is a "pretty special effort", Alastair Clarkson says
Franklin, 21, needed just two goals to reach the ton on Saturday night, and used the same amount of kicks to get there, with the pivotal moment coming in red time in the first quarter.
Fans flooded the arena following the goal. And the exhilaration spread as far as the coach's box, with Clarkson expressing his delight for Franklin after the game.
"We were excited for the lad because he's the first boy to kick 100 goals from an Aboriginal community, so I think it's a pretty special effort," he said after the Hawks' 78-point win at Telstra Dome on Saturday night.
"It's a fair effort when the game's been going for over 100 years,"
"We're really pleased that's been achieved now and we can really focus on going into September as deep as we possibly can."
Clarkson said Buddy's achievement means more considering it has come on the back of constant media pressure and speculation.
"We've worked hard as a footy club in developing him, he's worked hard too with his application," he said. “He's one of our best trainers at the football club, and he's taken everything in his stride.
"He gets a lot of attention now, and he's handled it particularly well. We're really pleased with the contribution he makes to our footy club.
"We hope it's going to be for a long time yet."