Lance ‘Buddy’ Franklin had plenty of support as he made a hugely-anticipated comeback for his junior club on Saturday, with his wife Jesinta and their three children cheering him on from the sidelines.

The Franklin family made the trip to the football icon’s hometown of Dowerin in the State’s Wheatbelt to see his first game at any level since retiring from the AFL in 2023.

Their children were involved throughout the day, with Buddy running out of the change rooms alongside their son Rocky and being greeted by daughter Tallulah shortly after the final siren sounded.

Franklin’s return came with the Tigers aiming to raise $300,000 from the day in order to install new lighting at their ground.

The 1066-goal legend’s Hawthorn premiership teammate and great friend Shane Crawford was also on hand for the day.

Last year, Jesinta told The West Australian she had told her husband she would have no problems with living in Dowerin.

“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,” she said.