TOM’S TON MATCHED BY CHAPPLE
WITH triple-figure goal hauls kicked after 18 rounds, the race to be the Matthew Walsh Leading Goal Kicker for 2018 really heats up now for Kye Chapple and Tom Eltringham.
The two leading spearheads in the Far North kicked their ton of goals on the same day this season – Chapple making it 100 for the fourth straight season up at Port Douglas on Saturday afternoon in the early kick-off game from 2pm.
Just over an hour later at Holloways Beach, Saints key forward Eltringham notched his milestone with a haul of 16 against Cairns City Lions.
Eltringham, recruited from Ballarat in the summer, reached the coveted mark for forwards in just 12 games this season, after missing all of July with a shoulder injury.
Eltringham looked like he would need to wait a further seven days to reach his ton but his Saints teammates fed him six goals in the last term of the rout over Lions to raise his bat.
With Saints and the Crocs clearly the two best teams in the competition, there is every chance Chapple and Eltringham will be standing at either end of Cazalys Stadium on grand final day.
“The boys looked after me in the last quarter to get me six but I am happy to get there and now it is time to focus on finals,” Eltringham said.
“We have got guys like Cade Wellington and Jack Philp, who are so unselfish and looked after me.
“The full forward that plays in a side that wins a lot of games by more than 10 goals is always going to kick a lot of goals.
“I guess there is a little bit of a competition between Kye and I but we both have our eyes on a premiership more than anything.”
With three games to play in the home-and-away season as well as finals, Chapple and Eltringham are neck and neck in pursuit of the Matthew Walsh Leading Goal Kicker award, named after the former Saints champion.
For the Crocs skipper it has become an annual occurrence to kick 100 goals but as a kid that grew up in country Victoria idolising champion super boots, the milestone is always special.
“Playing forward for much of my life, you dream of it,” Chapple said. “I remember watching blokes back home kicking 100 goals every year and it was always something you wished you could do.
“I had a pretty average start to the year, going through a bit of injury and what not, but I have found my feet over the last six weeks or so.”