By Jon Pierik
West Coast and Essendon fans may not want to hear this, but the defensive woes of the two clubs last season were good for the league.
Why? Well, for the first time in two decades, there were serious bags of goals, to the point there were seven hauls of eight goals or more. This was a dramatic jump, for not one player kicked eight or more in 2022, while there was only one in 2021. And the Eagles and Bombers were largely to thank for the turnaround.
Big day out: Charlie Curnow feasted on struggling West Coast last season. What has he in store this season?Credit: Getty Images
In a season when West Coast coach Adam Simpson was lucky to avoid the axe, the bottom-placed and injury-hit Eagles four times conceded eight goals or more to an individual opponent.
The Bombers, 16th for points conceded last year, twice allowed an opposition player to fill his boots. No wonder they were desperate to secure North Melbourne full-back Ben McKay.
Not since 2004 when there were hauls of eight or more goals seven times, due largely to St Kilda’s rolling “G Train” – Fraser Gehrig – who contributed four, have individual goalkicking outbursts been so prevalent.
In 2023, star Blue Charlie Curnow tormented the Eagles with bags of 10 and nine, while Crows veteran Taylor Walker also twice had his way against Simpson’s men, with returns of 10 and nine. Giants’ forward Jesse Hogan and Geelong’s future Hall of Famer Tom Hawkins feasted on the Bombers with hauls of nine and eight respectively. North Melbourne forward Nick Larkey had a day out against Gold Coast with nine in round 24.
Since 2015, there had been only one other season – 2019 – when more than one bag of eight had been kicked. Reinforcing last season’s breakout, there were also four hauls of seven: two by Jeremy Cameron, one from Charlie Cameron and another by Walker.
It may not quite be the glory days of Dunstall, Lockett, Carey, Kernahan and, dare I say, Capper, but power/athletic forwards feasting on their opponents is a welcome sight for fans and broadcasters.
Football may be a team game, but there’s nothing quite like watching an elite forward take charge, particularly when it’s a one-sided clash and the scoreboard result is a foregone conclusion, as was too often the case with the Eagles last season.
So, will the good times keep rolling?
As the new season dawns, David King, the dual North Melbourne premiership player and commentator, said he expects the goals to continue.
“Coaches have realised they were too defensive for probably three to four years. They have opened up the game a little bit, particularly off stoppages now. There doesn’t seem to be as high a volume of players in there as there once was during that awful period of three to four years ago,” King said.
“You now get a bit more ball movement, a bit more freewheeling, and the forwards can do their thing. They can show us their wares.”
However, the Bombers are desperate to atone, and have made every effort to tighten defensively, a point that vice captain Andrew McGrath reinforced.
“Every team wants to improve their team defence. We are no different. It’s no coincidence the top few teams on the ladder are really good in that area. We were towards the bottom in stopping teams, moving the ball forward, so it’s an area we need to address,” McGrath said at pre-season training.
“It’s a whole-of-field thing. It starts with our forwards, moves into our midfield, and our backs have to complement that. We are doing a lot of work on that at the moment.”
The Eagles, who have embraced the short-lived AFLX model through the off-season when training in smaller groups under new fitness coach Mathew Inness, have also worked to fortify their defence. A strong season from Jeremy McGovern and Tom Barrass, and the emergence of No.1 draft pick Harley Reid, likely to spend time at half-back, according to Simpson, should help. Yet, 2018 premiership coach Simpson added this kicker last month: “I am really aware of where we are at and what we are trying to do, so it’s not a quick fix.”
For Curnow and Larkey, in or entering the prime of their careers, that can only be good news when their sides face the Eagles. As it stands, there is no reason why Curnow, determined to atone for a quiet finals series, cannot claim a three-peat of Coleman Medals, for the Blues are expected to be legitimate premiership aspirants. Walker, enjoying his own renaissance in his twilight years, will also be buoyed.
The AFL continues to encourage a more free-flowing game, the protected area ruling opening up the corridor after a mark or free kick helping in this regard.
In what shapes as a marathon seven-month season, I think we would all agree that the more attacking football, sprinkled with bags of goals, the better.
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