Free the key forwards to kick goals and the game will be better for it, writes Matthew Lloyd
THE most influential men in the AFL are also the game’s biggest problem, the 18 senior coaches. MATTHEW LLOYD says ending the defensive stranglehold is key to reviving the game.
Matthew Lloyd
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LANCE Franklin had kicked 62 goals after 13 rounds in 2008, a tally that boasted eight bags of five or more, including eight and nine-goal hauls.
It was breathtaking football from a player in just his fourth AFL season.
I was fortunate enough, or should I say unfortunate enough, to witness the nine-goal onslaught, from the best seat in the house as I stood at the other end of the ground in an Essendon jumper, just in awe of his performance.
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“Buddy” kicked nine goals and five behinds that night at Etihad Stadium in just his 67th game.
He was opposed to a guy by the name of Paddy Ryder who was playing just game No.41.
It was footy at its purest with two young gazelle’s going head to head in an open match.
Ten years on, Ben Brown leads the Coleman Medal race with just 35 goals after 13 rounds. Unfortunately, it is what we have become accustomed to over the past 10 years with a code that is consumed by that dreaded word congestion and defensive-minded coaches who want a more even spread of goalkickers.
Franklin should achieve the 1000-goal milestone late next season, being just 109 goals shy of that remarkable feat. Franklin is more than likely going to be the last man ever to achieve that landmark considering the way the game is played.
Franklin’s athleticism and freakish ability has allowed him to thrive in this age of congestion football but as good as he has been, I still think we have missed out on so much more that could have been on the Buddy highlights reel.
The game just hasn’t allowed him to regularly do the things I witnessed that night at Etihad Stadium back in 2008.
Changes are upon us in the game and while I have been slow to come around to the fact that we need strong intervention, if it can bring back the excitement of what the key forward used to be for the lovers of our game, then the game is going to be so much better for it.
Jack Lukosius, Max King and Ben King are three names expected to be called out inside the first seven players at this year’s national draft. All three are tall, mobile key forwards who 18 clubs would love to get their hands on.
You can only hope that by the time they are establishing themselves as fully fledged AFL footballers in three or four years time, that they can aspire to own and dominate the forward 50m arc like Franklin could in his formative years.
It is staggering to think just how much the game has changed in that time and that it has got to the stage that zones are being trialled to help spread players across the field to not only improve the look of the game but also increase scoring.
Only three players are averaging more than three goals per game this year — Tom McDonald, Josh Kennedy and Lance Franklin.
Brown and Jeremy Cameron sit just underneath that average but all five are dynamic inside 50m players. Franklin and Cameron are lightening quick off the mark and athletically gifted while McDonald, Kennedy and Brown are powerful contested marks who rarely miss when they get their opportunity in front of goal.
It is going to be so good for the game and its fans to see players of that ilk spending the majority of a game inside 50m rather than what they are currently being asked to do.
Setting up in a position on the wing to help be part of the team defence should not be the role of every player, most notably the key forwards.
In 2010, a bag of five goals or more had been kicked 55 times by the end of Round 13. That mark dropped to just 28 occasions by 2014 and was 39 this season.
The 82 points kicked on average per team, per game this year is the lowest we have seen
in any season since 1968.
The days have nearly passed of kids turning up to the football with a key forward’s number on their back because of what the game has turned into.
In Round 15, Richmond plays Sydney at Etihad Stadium on a Thursday night and if I could be guaranteed that Lance Franklin and Alex Rance were going to play on each other within 70m of goal from the first bounce to the last, I would buy my admission ticket tomorrow, I’d be that excited.
One-on-one contests, spectacular marks and greater scoring is what the game craves.
The most influential men in all of this are also the game’s biggest problem, the 18 senior coaches.
Let the players play on instinct, it is why those players were drafted in the first place.
Where the game will be in 10 years from now is anyone’s guess, but going in search of more goals is a great place to start.
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