Hawthorn coach Alastair Clarkson and club champion Jarryd Roughead addressed the media this morning following the latter’s decision to hang up the boots at season’s end.
During the press conference, Clarkson touched on Roughead’s emergence in 2007 along with fellow top 10 draftees Lance Franklin and Jordan Lewis.
Roughead (pick 2), Franklin (pick 5) and Lewis (pick 7) formed the backbone of Hawthorn’s golden era when they were selected in the 2004 draft.
Clarkson had to be reminded by Roughead that Franklin’s premiership CV is inferior to his.
“Bud’s only got two,” Roughead said.
It then occurred to Clarkson that Franklin had indeed left the Hawks for Sydney at the end of 2013.
“Oh yeah … bad luck Bud,” Clarkson said with a smile.
“He decided to take off the lad, but he should’ve stayed here the boy because it would’ve been great. They all would have played in four together.”
The following year, Roughead’s Hawks got the better of Franklin’s Swans by 63 points in the 2014 Grand Final.
Hawthorn went on to clinch a threepeat of flags in 2015.
Roughead will play his 283rd and final game in the brown and gold against Gold Coast at Marvel Stadium on Sunday.