It’s raining goals for key forwards
Big men back in vogue … finally
–WHEN one of the AFL’s greatest all-time goal kickers got to the point where he’d rather see his son play in the midfield than as a forward, you know we have a problem.
The ex-player in question is former Essendon champion Matthew Lloyd, who cracked the ton in a season twice during his remarkable 926-goal career.
The Coleman Medal was won last year with just 58 goals, a far cry from the days when Jason Dunstall, Tony Lockett and Gary Ablett Sr were all kicking more than 100 goals a season in an enthralling battle for the coveted award. The game has changed, but in 2022 big key-position forwards are back in vogue, and for many it’s not a moment too soon.
Bags are back. Carlton’s Charlie Curnow has had two sixgoal and two five-goal performances so far this season to lead the Coleman Medal race on 33 goals.
Richmond spearhead Tom Lynch went goalless last weekend, but before that he kicked swags of seven, six and fourgoals in his previous three outings.
A six-goal burst by Saint Max King last weekend saw him shoot to third. The drought for the big men has ended, much to the relief of those of us pining for the great goal kickers of the past.
“I remember having a chat with someone and I said, ‘My son is 10 and I wouldn’t mind him coming back as a midfielder’,” Lloyd said.
“I said, ‘I don’t want him to become a forward because the game’s just not good for being a forward and it’s no fun down there for them with the rolling mauls and all of that’.”
That was then, but the wheel has begun to turn.
“With how the game is now going, I think it is an opportunity again for those mobile forwards to thrive,” Lloyd said.
Curnow, in particular, is the prototype of the new modern forward who can do it all.
“Guys like Tom Boyd, Paddy McCartin and Jon Patton, the modern game probably went past them a bit because they were those big, bulky forwards,” Lloyd said.
“Curnow is the modern-day forward who can sit on heads, he can run 14km, he can get up, he can get back.
“His mobility and the mobility of the King twins coming along and Harry McKay … I think they can cover the ground so well, which maybe the forwards of previous times who were bigger and bulkier just couldn’t do.
“It’s that different type of forward that’s coming along that can really thrive in the game.”
It’s shaping as the most exciting Coleman Medal race for many years, with Curnow leading over Lynch (31) Saint Max King (29), Geelong’s Tom Hawkins (29) and Jeremy Cameron (28).
The big forwards are all the rage again, and Lloyd puts it down to a change in coaching mindset, the quickening of the game due to aspects such as the standing on the mark rule and the impact of Melbourne.
“In past years, you might have had a Charlie Cameron type or one of those smaller types leading the goalkicking, but it’s so good to see so many key forwards thriving in the game again,” Lloyd said.
“I think the game does evolve, not to the point where I think we’ll get a 100-goal kicker again, but it’s more teams realise you can’t be ultra-defensive.
“We went through a phase where it was all about getting heaps of numbers around the ball and trying to win by kicking 10 to 12 goals.
“Then a team like Melbourne comes along and they’re so destructive through centre bounce and getting the ball deep.”
Defenders have had it too good for too long.
Clogged back lines have made it easier for defenders to shut down their opponents in recent years, but this year we’ve seen some bigname backmen exposed oneon-one.
“I don’t think there are many great defenders out there either who can really hold (these forwards),” Lloyd said.