Where does your club rank on the key goalkicking stats for the 2017 AFL season?

IT IS arguably the most important skill in the game. But players continue to struggle in front of goal. Who are the best and worst set shot kickers at your club? See the rankings.

BEN Dixon rolled the tape of Jarryd Roughead for the Collingwood players.

When Dixon joined the Magpies as goal kicking coach at the start of the 2016 pre-season, the former Hawthorn sharpshooter began the program with six examples of Roughead’s set-shot routine.

And every one was exactly the same.

“He stands at the top of his runway and counts to four,” Dixon said.

“You can see him go ‘one, two, three, four’, he takes a big deep breath on (the count of) five and then he starts to roll-in on six.

“He used to be a much-maligned kick for goal, Roughy, but he put an incredible amount of work on it and now he’s an amazing set-shot.

“And I think in part that’s because Alastair Clarkson put a huge emphasis on goal kicking at training throughout the week and put an outstanding program in place.”

SCROLL DOWN TO SEE THE FULL GOALKICKING RANKINGS

The consistency in that killer detail is why Dixon would choose Roughead above every other AFL player (hypothetically-speaking) to kick for his life.

And in one of the most topsy-turvy and unpredictable seasons on record, inaccurate goal kicking has already become a costly factor for clubs, and potentially, for players and coaches’ careers.

Daniel Menzel is an outstanding set shot for goal. Picture: AAP Images

As recently as Sunday, Richmond booted 2.8 from set-shots against Carlton.

Why players cannot miss at training and then melt under pressure on game day is a problem, according to Dixon, that is easily improved with a dedicated goal kicking program.

And Dixon’s believes some clubs do it better than others, based on the remarkable inconsistencies he sees in players’ techniques in games.

“I’m always surprised to see a player drastically alter their set-shot routine from one shot to another, even though they’re kicking from about the same spot on the ground,” he said.

“You see it all the time and to me it says pretty clearly that player isn’t sure, or isn’t confident in what he is doing.

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“And you could argue it is the most important part of the game.”

Dixon says the opportunity to improve the goal kicking programs at clubs is the biggest and most simple “marginal gain” in football.

In short, the yips are fixable, and he’s seen it happen.

“Clubs put an enormous amount of work into the offensive and defensive aspects of their game, but does the same amount of time and effort go into goal kicking?” he said.

“It’s the whole point of the game, isn’t it? Kick goals.

“I think it gets neglected.”

AFL champion Wayne Carey agrees.

Roughead takes a shot for goal.

Roughead celebrates after kicking truly. Picture: Colleen Petch

“The fact that we don’t have (dedicated) full-time goal kicking coaches astounds me,” Carey said.

After three years as specialist goal kicking coach at Hawthorn and one year at Collingwood last year (he couldn’t commit to the increased time commitments this season), Dixon says a structured program in the preseason can conquer the technical issues and mental demons which cripples players’ accuracy and cost teams premiership points.

“Preseason is the most important time to work out what works best for each individual and then players have to absolutely work their butt off to perfect it,” he said.

“I had a benchmark of 70 per cent for all players and I called that the ‘speed limit’. And every player you bump into at the club throughout the week I would ask them, what their speed limit was.

“So you are always accountable.”

Dixon joined Collingwood late in 2015 after spotting a flaw in Travis Cloke’s technique. He was overstriding in his last step before contact and lowering his hips at the critical point.

Saverio Rocca is another who has been lauded for his impact on Carlton full-forward Levi Casboult, improving his accuracy by almost 16 per cent this season.

But there is a significant pressure factor, as well. Collingwood assistant coach Brenton Sanderson said the anxiety of goal kicking affected some players enormously.

“It is amazing now players … they actually don’t want to take the shot,” Sanderson said on Fox Footy.

To cope with that, Dixon borrows a line from Hollywood. In the baseball film ‘For the love of the game’ a pitcher (played by Kevin Costner) famously says “clear the mechanism”, to help drown out the noise and faces in the crowd and eliminate the external pressures.

Jake Stringer is one of the worst set shots for goal. Picture: Michael Klein

“That’s what I say to players. Stand at the top of your runway and ‘clear the mechanism’. Jason Dunstall loved it and we always said it to each other before we would have a shot in games.

“It’s that consistency you need to feel comfortable, relaxed and confident, despite whatever the scoreboard says.”

Carey said good goal kickers needed to embrace the pressure moments.

“That’s the stuff you used to do over and over as a kid in the backyard and do over and over,” Carey said.

“You dream about having those big moments.

“The great goal kickers might have some negative thoughts but they still execute the skill.”

At Hawthorn, players would complete dedicated goal kicking training as early as 8am before and after main sessions. In the mid-2000s, Clarkson identified goal kicking as one of the club’s biggest areas of improvement. They tackled their goal kicking issue front on.

At Collingwood, the players and coaches battle each other regularly at training. Losers pay a price, such as not shaving for a week, or eating a dry Weet-Bix.

In Roughead’s case, the big man worked out he was planting his feet in line with each other on his approach, unbalancing him as if walking a tight rope.

Ben Brown is one of the best set shots for goal in the competition. Picture: AAP Images

Dixon said the results of a focused goal kicking program in conjunction with biomechanics expert David Rath was a significant factor in the Hawks’ golden premiership era.

“If training started at 9am, the players were out there having shots from 8am,” Dixon said.

“And not just having gimmick shots from the boundary line, I’m talking about practising and refining and repeating your routine over and over again from spots where you shouldn’t miss.

“So there was huge ownership from the players.

“Clarko had up on the whiteboard that goal kicking was one of the club’s three biggest marginal gains and they jumped up immediately from 16th to 6th in accuracy and look what happened.

“They won four premierships.”

BEST SET SHOTS — MINIMUM 20 SHOTS

#	Player	Shots	Goals	Behinds	Misses	Accuracy
1	Daniel Menzel	20	17	2	1	85.0%
2	Jonathon Patton	26	19	6	1	73.1%
3	Jack Watts	22	16	4	2	72.7%
4	Eddie Betts	20	14	5	1	70.0%
5	Tom Hawkins	34	22	10	2	64.7%
6	Robbie Gray	31	20	9	2	64.5%
7	Ben Brown	39	25	11	3	64.1%
8	Jarryd Roughead	25	16	8	1	64.0%
9	Josh J. Kennedy	45	28	16	1	62.2%
10	Jeremy Cameron	37	23	12	2	62.2%

WORST SET SHOTS — MINIMUM 20 SHOTS

#	Player	Shots	Goals	Behinds	Misses	Accuracy
1	Jake Stringer	23	7	14	2	30.4%
2	Cam McCarthy	20	7	8	5	35.0%
3	Alex Fasolo	28	10	17	1	35.7%
4	Lance Franklin	42	17	22	3	40.5%
5	Jason Castagna	20	9	10	1	45.0%
6	Eric Hipwood	22	10	8	4	45.5%
7	Tom Lynch	22	10	11	1	45.5%
8	Jack Darling	27	13	12	2	48.1%
9	Joe Daniher	39	19	17	3	48.7%
10	Darcy Moore	28	14	12	2	50.0%

SET SHOT ACCURACY

#	Club	Accuracy
1	GWS Giants	60.0%
2	Geelong Cats	59.4%
3	Essendon	58.2%
4	Gold Coast Suns	56.3%
5	Adelaide Crows	56.3%
6	Hawthorn	55.8%
7	Melbourne	54.9%
8	Brisbane Lions	54.1%
9	North Melbourne	51.9%
10	Port Adelaide	51.6%
11	Carlton	51.0%
12	Sydney Swans	50.6%
13	West Coast Eagles	49.7%
14	Fremantle	48.1%
15	Richmond	47.8%
16	Collingwood	47.0%
17	St Kilda	46.7%
18	Western Bulldogs	45.9%

EXPECTED SCORES LADDER

#	Club	Wins	Losses	Points	%	Points For	Points Against
1	Richmond	10	3	40	121.2%	96.6	79.7
2	Melbourne	10	3	40	113.8%	101.5	89.2
3	Port Adelaide	9	4	36	137.7%	109.1	79.3
4	Adelaide Crows	9	4	36	129.0%	110.3	85.5
5	Geelong Cats	9	4	36	115.1%	99.8	86.7
6	GWS Giants	8	5	32	115.8%	101.7	87.8
7	St Kilda	7	6	28	107.6%	96.8	89.9
8	Collingwood	7	6	28	103.2%	92.5	89.6
9	West Coast Eagles	7	6	28	97.7%	90.5	92.7
10	Western Bulldogs	6	7	24	108.2%	95.0	87.9
11	Sydney Swans	6	7	24	101.0%	89.1	88.2
12	Gold Coast Suns	6	7	24	87.8%	91.0	103.7
13	Essendon	5	8	20	97.2%	95.5	98.2
14	North Melbourne	5	8	20	96.2%	96.9	100.8
15	Fremantle	5	8	20	77.1%	75.2	97.6
16	Carlton	4	9	16	82.9%	75.3	90.8
17	Hawthorn	3	10	12	74.5%	77.8	104.4
18	Brisbane Lions	1	12	4	64.6%	78.2	120.9

Originally published as Where does your club rank on the key goalkicking stats for the 2017 AFL season?