Lance Franklin is using a straighter run up when kicking for goal and reaping the rewards, says Jason Dunstall

JASON Dunstall - the man who once tried unsuccessfully to straighten out Lance Franklin’s kicking for goal - says the penny has finally dropped for the superstar forward and he’s reaping the rewards.

Lance Franklin kicks for goal. Picture: Phil Hillyard

AFL goal kicking legend Jason Dunstall once tried - unsuccessfully - to straighten out Lance Franklin’s run up when kicking for goal.

The Hawthorn great now describes Franklin’s re-engineered goalkicking style as a thing of beauty and the reason behind his deadly accuracy.

For most of his career Buddy’s hook style run up and kick has kept him around the 50 per cent conversion rate.

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Then something happened in the lead up to Round 21 last year - Franklin’s run up has no curve and the flight of the ball doesn’t either.

It probably won him his fourth Coleman Medal despite a 48.7 per cent accuracy for shots on goal for the season.

Since the Round 21 last year the Swans superstar has booted 38.16 from nine games at an accuracy of 62 per cent.

Jason Dunstall in action for Hawthorn.

Lance Franklin in action for Sydney. Picture: Phil Hillyard

Whether it was the game’s all-time leading goalkicker Tony “Plugger” Lockett whispering in Franklin’s ear or Swans great Nick Davis’s persuasive tones isn’t clear.

But Dunstall is certain the penny has finally dropped for Franklin which is why he’s reaping the benefits with career best accuracy.

“He’s definitely running a hell of a lot straighter,” Dunstall told The Daily Telegraph.

“The first thing that does is keeps him aligned to the target but what we are also seeing is a much straighter ball flight from him.

“He used kick from the flank and he would kick across the ball and make it go right to left. Now they are like darts, they’re beautiful.

“His kicks now have a perfectly true trajectory.

“I’m not saying every single kick but almost all of them have a very straight run up and he’s kicking through the target. He’s done a lot of work on it and it’s showing.”

When Dunstall was footy director at Hawthorn he set up a row of witches hats for Franklin to run straight through on his approach for goal but it didn’t work, as soon as he got near one his simply stopped.

Lance Franklin in action for Sydney.

“Sometimes when you are a really good young player you are just used to doing things your own way and it takes a while to buy into stuff,” Dunstall said.

“He’s bought into it now and they are reaping the benefits. He is kicking beautifully, I notice it because he is kicking so much better than he used to.”

Dunstall sits third on the list of all time goal kickers (1,254 goals) and Franklin ninth (877) after overtaking Collingwood great Peter McKenna last week. He won’t get near his old Hawks mentor but the 1,000 mark looks well within his range especially with his new kicking style.

“It’s taken him a while to get comfortable doing that but he’s making it look easy and the more he does it the better he is going to kick it,” Dunstall said.

“Early on he was having so many shots for goal it just didn’t matter.

“He values the shots a lot more now and he’s become a lot more team oriented. He happily gives them off to team mates in a better spot.”

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