 Hawthorn were eliminated from the finals the following week by North Melbourne.Franklin finished the season with an equal-third finish in Hawthorn's best-and-fairest award, the Peter Crimmins Medal, and was Hawthorn's leading goalkicker for the first time in his career.2008 saw Franklin establish himself as one of the elite players in the competition in what proved to be his career-best season, and he won his first Coleman Medal with 102 goals in the home-and-away season.