Round 14 Anytime Fitness Men’s Rising Star: Archie Franklin

The VAFA congratulates Archie Franklin from Old Ivanhoe Grammarians who has received the Anytime Fitness Rising Star nomination for Round 14. Archie has been a valuable addition to the Old Ivanhoe line up accumulating upwards of 30 disposals on multiple occasions.

What the club said:

Archie went to school at Ivanhoe Grammar and played his first senior game with the club at 16 years old as a Year 11 Student when were in Premier C.

In 2023 he juggled commitments with the Northern Knights and Ivanhoe Grammar (where he was integral in the schools first 1^st XVIII Premiership win in 60 years). He managed to fit another game in with the team last year as a year 12 student.

Archie goes by the nickname of “Choss” and along with his mate Trent McManus takes the responsibility to entertain our playing group each week with the “fines” for the week – raising money for the end of season trip.

Coach Jarrod Gieschen said, “We knew making the transition from Premier C to Premier B wasn’t going to be easy, and as well as retaining players we had to add some talent to our list. Archie has been an extremely important recruit this year and brings high training standards to our group. He has been extremely consistent in every game he has played, but it has been in the most recent period where he has relished the opportunity to play as a half back flanker where he has really excelled, he had 36 possessions against St Bedes/Mentone last week, and to get 44 possessions against Beaumaris was an outstanding achievement.  Archie is part of a core group of U19 players that gives us a lot of confidence that the future is really bright for our club. We hope this is the first of many achievements that Archie wins wearing the Brown and White.”