Giants forward Jeremy Cameron can kick 100 goals this season

No key forward has kicked 100 goals in a season since Lance Frankin for Hawthorn in 2008. But GWS key forward Jeremy Cameron has the tools to kick a ton this season, says Chris McDermott.

Not since 2008 has an AFL player kicked 100 goals in a season.

It was Buddy Franklin, of course … 11 years ago.

On the way to the 2008 premiership, the Hawks’ spearhead bagged 113 goals — 102 in the minor round, 11 in the finals. He hasn’t got within cooee since — with a best return of 81 goals in his third season with Sydney.

It’s a long way to 100 in the modern era, especially when you see games like the Crows v Dockers borefest last Sunday.

A dismal 12 goals were scored, just three in the first half. The Crows kicked one before the main break and their winning return of 7.9 was the club’s fourth-lowest in its 29-year history.

It took me back to a game in 1995, when the Crows kicked 1.1 in a half at Football Park against Hawthorn.

The game should have been over … but wasn’t. The introduction of a young fellow called Andrew McLeod led to a final score of 9.6 to 7.16, as the Crows snuck home by two points.

McLeod didn’t go on to kick 100 that year, but Gary Ablett Snr did. His 122 was the second-last in a run of seven seasons with at least one player breaking the ton. Those days are long gone.

Since Buddy’s 113, nobody has done better than Brendan Fevola’s 89, a year later.

Giants forward Jeremy Cameron marks during the derby against the Swans. Picture. Phil Hillyard

No-one else has really come close and many believe no-one ever will.

Kicking consistent bags of goals has become so difficult in recent years that Richmond spearhead Jack Riewoldt won the Coleman medal as the AFL’s leading goalkicker with 65 in 2012. It’s a far cry from 1993, when Tony Modra, Gary Ablett and Jason Dunstall all kicked more than 120 goals and nine players managed more than 65.

The game has evolved into a dour, defensive struggle.

In 1992 Dunstall kicked 145 goals from an amazing 229 shots on goal. Last season, Riewoldt had the most shots — a comparatively meagre 106.

Is there any wonder the 100 goal target can’t be reached?

An obsession among coaches with multiple scorers and a variety of avenues to goal has been a disaster. Scoring has dried up at an alarming rate. The fans are persevering but the game is asking a lot from them and the time will come when they demand more.

But all is not lost. Just when the glory days seemed over, GWS star Jeremy Cameron is on track to break the magical barrier.

In Buddy’s 25 games in 2008, he averaged 12 kicks, six marks, 4.5 goals and three behinds a game. This year, Cameron averages 12 kicks, eight marks, 4.3 goals and two behinds. Maintain those numbers and stay fit and, if the Giants play two finals, the impossible may be possible.

Lance Frankin kicks a goal in the 2008 qualifying final.

Accuracy is important.

The century maker before Buddy, St Kilda’s Fraser Gehrig, showed the benefit of sharpshooting.

Gehrig raised his bat at Football Park in a losing 2004 preliminary final against Port Adelaide, having kicked 103.39 at an impressive 72.5 per cent accuracy. Buddy managed 52 per cent in 2008, Cameron is going at 65 per cent.

Essendon great Matthew Lloyd set the standard in 2003 when he kicked 93.30 at 75 per cent accuracy.

The AFL’s new rules this season have helped key forwards. The 6-6-6 set-up at centre bounces has allowed more space for marking targets and they are being used more often.

Cameron has kicked about 30 per cent of the Giants’ goals this season. It is rare air in recent times. Buddy kicked 28 per cent of the Hawks’ goals in 2008. In 1993, when the full forward was at the peak of his powers, Modra kicked 37 per cent of the Crows’ goals, Ablett had 35 per cent of the Cats’ and Dunstall 37 per cent of the Hawks’.

Scoreboard leader Robbie Gray’s 36 goals last season accounted for just 14 per cent of the Power’s tally.

Josh Jenkins’ 46 goals were 15 per cent of the Crows’ majors. It is not enough.

The stats paint a clear picture of the desperate need for a goalscoring key forward and a change of attitude from some coaches.

Cameron had taken 46 shots on goal after seven rounds in 2019 — just over 50 per cent more than second- placed Sun Alex Sexton.

With Rory Lobb gone and Jonathan Patton and Toby Greene injured, Cameron has been a lone ranger in attack, and it’s paying off.

The Giants sat third on the ladder going into this round, one win from top spot and with the AFL’s best goal tally.

In a season where scoring is at a 50-year low, the Giants had passed 100 points in four games. The teams above them, Geelong and Collingwood, had done it three times.

The Crows had done it once and Port Adelaide hadn’t passed 95 points.

So for a goal-starved AFL, all eyes are on Jeremy Cameron, who has 70 goals to go in 15 games, plus finals.

With Hawthorn, Carlton, Melbourne and the Gold Coast in the next four weeks and Sydney, Hawthorn, the Bulldogs and the Gold Coast in the last four, the dream looks probable more than possible.

It is a dream draw for both club and star player.

If anyone can kick 100 goals in a season, Jeremy Cameron can. He may never get a better chance than now.

Originally published as Giants forward Jeremy Cameron can kick 100 goals this season