Lance Franklin set to climb goalkicker table, Shaun Burgoyne on verge of 350 games

HAWTHORN veteran Shaun Burgoyne is set to join a very exclusive club in 2018 while a host of other players will also etch their names in the record books this year.

LAST year was the year of the milestone men in the AFL, with six players reaching 300 games and a host of others etching their names or increasing their standings in the record books.

We look at who is on track to follow them in 2018.

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350 GAMES

Hawthorn veteran Shaun Burgoyne is a modern marvel. He enters the 2018 season as the competition’s oldest player having turned 35 last October but continues to deliver week in, week out.

Burgoyne has not missed a game since 2013 and now sits on 341 games entering his 17th season. The magic milestone is on track to come about in Round 9 against Brisbane at the Gabba, with Burgoyne set to become just the 16th player in history to reach 350 games.

Hawthorn veteran Shaun Burgoyne is set to reach 350 AFL games this year. Picture: AAP

300 GAMES

Last year was the year of the 300 gamers, with six players bringing up the milestone. In 2018, only three players have the ability to join the same exclusive club.

Carlton vice-captain Kade Simpson (286 games) should be the first, the defender on track to be just the fifth player in the Blues’ history to reach 300 games for the club.

Four-time premiership Hawk turned Melbourne midfielder Jordan Lewis (283 games) is on track to celebrate a late-season milestone while Adelaide goal sneak Eddie Betts (277 games) could hit 300 games this year if the Crows feature in at least one final.

2 50 GAMES

Geelong skipper Joel Selwood will not have to wait long to bring up his 250th game milestone this year, which is slated for Round 1 against Melbourne after the midfielder finished last season stranded on 249.

Four-time premiership Hawk Grant Birchall (245 games) is also not far away, while other players who can reach the milestone this year are Giant Ryan Griffen (241 games), Western Bulldog Dale Morris (241 games), Melbourne co-captain Nathan Jones (239 games) and Carlton counterpart Marc Murphy (236 games) Sydney pair Heath Grundy (237 games) and Kieren Jack (229 games), Blue-turned-Crow Bryce Gibbs (231 games), Fremantle’s Michael Johnson (231 games), North Melbourne’s Jarrad Waite (231 games) and Geelong’s Harry Taylor (229 games).

Lance Franklin needs 67 goals to take seventh on the all-time goalkicker list. Picture: Phil Hillyard

Peter McKenna is currently ninth on the all-time AFL goalkickers list.

GOALS

Sydney superstar Lance Franklin already sits 10th on the all-time goalkickers list but he has the ability to go climb past a few more big names this year. The key forward, who turns 31 later this month, has kicked 860 goals from 271 games in a career spanning 13 seasons to date with both Hawthorn and the Swans.

He needs only 14 more goals to match ninth-placed Peter McKenna while eighth-placed Leigh Matthews (915 goals) and seventh-placed Matthew Lloyd (926 goals) are also within reach this season.

GAMES COACHED

Damien Hardwick and Brad Scott were both two-time premiership players and both started their coaching careers in 2010. Now they are both set reach 200 games coached this year.

Hardwick (182 games) enters the season on the back of leading Richmond to last year’s premiership while Scott (179 games) has a task ahead of him after the Roos finished 15th in 2017.

Only 37 coaches have had the reins for more than 200 games in VFL/AFL history. For the record, Hardwick has a 51.1 per cent winning percentage while Scott is at 50.8 per cent.

Richmond coach Damien Hardwick (left) will coach his 200th game this year. Picture: Tim Carrafa

BROWNLOW MEDAL

The little master, Gary Ablett, will go down as one of the game’s all-time greats when he hangs up the boots but he looks set to add another record to his growing list this year. Ablett - who returns to Geelong in 2018 - needs only 12 more Brownlow Medal votes this year to equal former Footscray and North Melbourne champion Gary Dempsey’s record of 246 career votes.

It should be noted Dempsey’s tally is a little inflated, given each of the two umpires awarded 3-2-1 votes during the 1976 and 1977 seasons. But that will only make it even more impressive if two-time winner Ablett - who has averaged 0.82 votes a game across his career - can eclipse the tally.