Fifth ton milestone goal too far in 2019
KICKING a ton of goals in Cairns is almost second nature these days for premiershipwinning Port Douglas skipper Kye Chapple.
Just as champion Saints super-boot Matt Walsh was finishing up his stellar Far North career, Horsham product Chapple picked up where Walsh left off.
But, after doing it for four straight campaigns leading into 2019, the clever forward is all but certain of falling short of the triple-figure milestone this year.
The 27-year-old has battled a knee complaint for much of the season and will miss today’s potential grand final preview against South Cairns.
The smiling Chapple is not too fussed about the likelihood of falling short of 100 goals this season.
“It is one of those things – it is a great thing to do and I love kicking goals,” Chapple said.
“I am pretty lucky to be playing right now with my knee; I did not think I would be able to finish the season at some points this year.
“It is good to be out there because we have such a good team this year.
“I am happy to be out there playing and hopefully we can win another flag in a few months time.”
Chapple originally hurt his knee playing in the AFL Cairns off-season with NTFL club Wanderers, leading to him missing the entire Crocs preseason.
He has increased his training load over the last month and says he will need to train and play more often now for leadership purposes, with onballer Jesse Mawson now away from the club.
Chapple is likely to have post-season surgery on his knee and Crocs coach Brad Cooper says the full-forward is building towards September.
“He was good against Hawks and I thought he did some good things last week against Lions also,” Cooper said.
“He has been out for a while and needs to get his fitness up.
“We pushed him up the ground a little more against Hawks; he still has a fair bit of improvement in him to get to his best footy.
“As long as he keeps building in the right direction into the back end of the season, Kye will be fine.”
Chapple said the Crocs were very lucky to beat the Cutters earlier this season and expected a tough contest today.