Jesinta falls for Buddy Franklin's ‘special' Wheatbelt home
Jesinta Franklin visited her famous footballer husband's hometown of Dowerin for the first time with her family this week, where she lovingly watched their two kids reliving their father's childhood memories.
'I said to (Buddy), I was, like, I could live in Dowerin,' she told The West Australian during a visit to Perth on Wednesday.
'There's just something so magical about small towns. I really love that rural, quiet, slow life. It was just really beautiful, the long dirt roads and the big gums on the side of the road, the sunsets were so beautiful there.'
The family's road trip through Toodyay and Goomalling before arriving at the place where the Sydney Swans and Hawthorn legend Buddy Franklin grew up was made extra special as it was also his first time back on home soil since leaving as a teenager.
The model described their short holiday in the Wheatbelt as 'amazing' and 'beautiful' as Tullulah, 5, and Rocky, 4, followed in their father's footsteps, experiencing things he did as a budding footy player in the small town.
'It was so nice to see where he grew up. And a lot of things that he spoke about, we were able to go and experience and show the kid,' she said.
'And we drove past his childhood home, and the kids walked the water pipes with him, which he used to do all the time. Lance 'Buddy' Franklin pictured with his kids in Dowerin. Credit: Unknown / Instagram
'We went to the oval where he used to play junior footy. It was really, really fun. We loved it. We absolutely love Perth. So it's nice to be back.
'That's the first time Bud has been back since he left, like, when he was maybe 15 years old. It was a really beautiful, full-circle moment. So lots of memories.'
Franklin loved the rural lifestyle so much that she considered living in Dowerin, and said she would even be open to buying a local property in the future. Jesinta Franklin at Crown Towers. Credit: Andrew Ritchie / The West Australian
The Gold Coast-born fashionista is also on the west coast for an evening of style, conversation, and front-row fashion at Claremont Quarter.
Taking place on Thursday night, the event will feature talks from Franklin herself, Aussie stylist Elliot Garnaut, and Perth-born celebrity make-up artist Michael Brown.
There will also be a live runway show, showcasing new-season collections from CQ's retailers.
In terms of fashion trends for autumn and winter, the style authority is currently loving western core so lots of double denim, fringing, prairie silhouettes, and beautiful colours.
'I'm really into my horse riding and the more rural life at the moment. So I feel like that just really works with me. I'm always wearing cowboy boots and I've got my cowgirl hat on,' she said.
After the event, Franklin will head home with her kids on Friday ahead of a Mother's Day weekend she will be solo parenting due to Buddy off training for a marathon in Canberra.
'I'll just be at home with the kids, and my parents are away, so literally, I'll just be me and the kids. So I'm hoping Bud's being pre- organised, but I'm really not betting my life on it,' she said.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
News.com.au
5 hours ago
- News.com.au
Is Stewart in trouble for BRUTAL bump?
AFL: Cats star Tom Stewart could be in hot water for a textbook but brutal bump on Suns midfielder Noah Anderson.
News.com.au
6 hours ago
- News.com.au
What it is really like to be a WAG in Australia
For years, WAG culture has been put on a pedestal in Australia. Glamorous, polished, and always front and centre. From Rebecca Judd to Jesinta Franklin, the women behind AFL stars have been splashed across the pages of Austraia's newspapers, labelled 'glamour WAGs' and packaged into a media-driven identity that has little to do with the actual reality of life inside the AFL bubble. We don't talk enough about what it's really like to be the woman behind the athlete. The public sees the polished photos, the race day outfits, the glamour. But they don't see the long-distance parenting, the invisible mental load, or the unspoken expectation that you make yourself smaller while they chase something big. I know this firsthand. I've lived it. My husband, Lachie Henderson, spent over a decade in the AFL system, playing for Brisbane, Carlton, and Geelong. While the outside world saw the polished version of AFL life, behind the scenes, I was juggling long-distance, single motherhood, and running a business full-time – without the luxury of pressing pause. I met him while raising a child as a single mum, running my swimwear label IIXIIST, and building a life on my own terms. And while I loved him - and the life we were building - I quickly learnt that being a WAG in Australia came with a playbook. One I never really wanted to follow. Navigating the WAG world AFL culture is structured, disciplined, and deeply traditional. The same applies to the social side of it. There are unspoken expectations – who sits where at the club functions, who's in the inner circle, and how present you are within the 'group'. It's not a written rulebook, but it's there. For someone like me, who was already running a brand and raising a child, the WAG world was just another ecosystem to navigate, but never fully buy into. There's a hierarchy in every WAG circle, and you know your place in it pretty quickly. I wasn't interested in competing for a seat at the table when my focus was on my business, my child, and my life outside of football. I refused to put my life on hold. A lot of WAGs centre their lives around the AFL calendar. Training schedules, interstate travel, mid-season moves. It all revolves around the game, not the individual. Lachie and I did long-distance across Brisbane, Melbourne, and Geelong, but we always made decisions as a partnership, not just around footy. There's a strange undercurrent inside the AFL bubble. It's structured. Disciplined. And socially, it's incredibly cliquey. There's no official hierarchy - but it exists. Who you sit next to at events, how involved you are with the club, whether or not you're part of 'the group.' It felt eerily like high school, just with more fake lashes and club polos. At the time, I was doing long distance between states, juggling footy schedules, running a business, and raising a baby. I didn't have the capacity (or the interest) for the politics. I wasn't there to compete for a seat at any table. My time and energy were already fully accounted for: managing a company, keeping a child alive, and building a future I wasn't willing to shelve for someone else's career. It's not that I didn't support Lachie. I did and still do. But I've always believed in staying in your own lane. My business mattered. My goals mattered. And I wasn't going to push them aside just because I married someone with a profile. There's a reason many AFL WAGs start businesses, fashion labels, or wellness brands – it's not just about career ambition, it's about having something that belongs to you. I was building IIXIIST at the time, and later The Prestwick Place, and I was always clear that my career mattered just as much as his. The culture is not for everyone WAG culture in Australia can be welcoming and supportive, but it can also be cliquey and isolating. Some women form lifelong friendships, while others feel like outsiders in an unspoken hierarchy. The biggest misconception? Being a WAG is not a job. There's no contract, no title, and yet, there's an expectation that you play a certain role – supportive, present, polished. Some thrive in that space, while others struggle to find their own identity outside of their partner's career. When Lachie retired at the end of 2021, we were finally able to live life on our own terms. We left the AFL structure behind, moved to the Gold Coast, and co-founded The Prestwick Place together. After years of working around footy schedules, training commitments, and game-day routines, we finally had full control over our time, our business, and our future. The label never fit In Australia, the term WAG carries weight. You're either glamorous, supportive, and on-brand… or you're cold, distant, and not one of the girls. Neither version ever felt like me. I've always believed women can be both. Supportive and ambitious. Present and independent. Loving and driven. I wasn't looking to be defined by my partner's job title and I wasn't about to be reduced to mine either. There are plenty of beautiful, kind, intelligent women in that world, many of whom I admire. But the label always felt limiting. It was about who we were attached to, not who we were on our own. There's no single way to be a WAG. Some women embrace it fully, enjoying the events, the media attention, and the connection to the club. Others, like me, choose to stay in their own lane and focus on what's important to them. There's no right or wrong way to do it, but there is a choice. You don't have to dress a certain way, show up to everything, or let your partner's career dictate your own. For me, WAG culture was just one chapter of my life. It didn't define me then, and it doesn't define me now. Rewriting the narrative Today, Lachie and I are married. We live on the Gold Coast. We co-run our business and we've just had our first child together - growing our family to four. Our relationship is exactly what the term implies - a partnership. Equal parts give and take. And I say that as someone who's carried everything alone before. There's a shift happening in the way people talk about relationships, especially when both people are ambitious. It doesn't have to be either/or. It just requires being intentional. You have to make space for each other's goals. Let go of what it 'should' look like. And back yourselves to figure it out together, as you go.
7NEWS
6 hours ago
- 7NEWS
Gold Coast star Noah Anderson ironed out in bone-crunching bump by Tom Stewart
Geelong star Tom Stewart could come under scrutiny for a bone-crunching bump on Gold Coast star Noah Anderson on Saturday. The Cats emerged 24-point winners at GMHBA Stadium in a slugfest that will be remembered for the brutal collision. With time ticking on in the final quarter Anderson went after a loose ball in defensive 50 as Stewart came from the opposite direction. As Anderson went down to collect the ball, Stewart met him hard into the ribs and shoulder. The gun Sun immediately collapsed in a heap with umpires quickly stopping play. Anderson was eventually able to walk from the field but looked in serious discomfort. He appeared in good spirits a short time later on the bench, but was quickly ruled out and taken to the rooms for further assessment. The bump will certainly be looked at by the match review officer. Stewart appeared to make contact to the body region but did choose to bump rather than contest the ball. 'Certainly live it looked like it didn't get him high so that confirms that. It's just in that rib section,' Hawthorn great Jordan Lewis said on Fox Footy. 'It's the bump of the year,' Brownlow medallist Adam Cooney said on SEN.
