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Geelong’s Steve Johnson has a lot to answer for. Not for the reckless play that has seen him suspended on three occasions already this year.
For the spate of copycat snap shot goal kicking attempts that have gone awry.
Twice in the dying stages of Geelong’s loss to Adelaide last Sunday, errant set-shot snaps at goal cost the Cats dearly.
The first came from the usually reliable boot of former Brownlow medallist Jimmy Bartel, the second was from talented swingman Harry Taylor. Either shot would have put Geelong back in front with just seconds left to play.
Missing crucial shots at goal is not a new phenomenon, it happens time and time again. But what is relatively new is the approach that a handful of our top footballers are now taking when faced with kicking a goal from any sort of angle.
Of course, Johnson is a master of the art. When faced with a difficult shot he lines his body up sideways to the mark, cribs a couple of metres to open the angle to goal, before kicking across his body and snapping the ball through.
Yes it is spectacular when it comes off. Yes it is a safe method when in the right hands. But is it always necessary? Probably not.
Bartel and Taylor were faced with difficult, yet not impossible shots at goal on the weekend.
Sure they were confronted by tight angles, Bartel’s more so than Taylor’s, but there was still plenty of daylight to aim for and the distance to goal was negligible.
Both players were also on the correct side for their natural kicking foot.
Surely, under such circumstances, the most accurate kick would be the drop punt!
When questioned about the merits of the snap shot versus the drop punt, Geelong’s captain Joel Selwood was unequivocal in his belief that it should be a drop punt every time.
Brisbane’s Jonathon Brown took a similar stance, stating that the only time he would attempt a snap shot was if there was absolutely no daylight between the posts at all.
As neither Bartel nor Taylor were hard up against the boundary line, and as both were within just metres of the goal line, there seems to be only one explanation for their attempted snap shots. A lack of confidence in their own kicking abilities.
Why else would they attempt to open up the angle for a shot at goal that was already highly gettable?
The great goal kickers of the past never did it, which is probably why they were great goal kickers. But then again, in those days, players actually practised their goal-kicking.
Today, with the fitness and conditioning staff and the sports scientists so enamoured with their own programs, little time is left over for the vital art of goal-kicking.
A case in point for the value of goal kicking practise is North Melbourne’s Lindsay Thomas.
A couple of years ago Thomas was a basket case. His confidence was shot and even the simplest of set shots was approached with nervousness and trepidation.
In 2011 he kicked 21 goals and 36 behinds, a success rate of less than 37 percent. This year he is tracking at almost 73 percent with 45 goals and just 17 behinds.
He attributes the improvement to a rigorous regime of several hundred shots at goal per week at training.
The repetitive nature of his practise has led to improved technique and confidence, something Bartel and Taylor must have lacked when faced with their potential match winning kicks on Sunday.
Of course Bartel and Taylor aren’t the only culprits. Scores of players have developed the habit of ‘kicking around the corner’ even when running into an open goal. On most occasions it is totally unnecessary and increases the risks of what can go wrong.
Players of the past would have been dragged for it, even if the cross body kick came in general play.
I have vivid memories of a hotshot, top ten draft pick from the late 80s who had dominated his state league, being pulled from the ground during his first AFL/VFL match.
In those days you were never taken from the ground for a rest, and as the recruit – who had been playing a good game – walked past me on his way to the dug out I asked him what was wrong.
“He (the coach) doesn’t like blokes kicking around corners,” was the bemused reply.
Perhaps it is time for coaches to revisit that philosophy.
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