When teams come up against West Coast, talk tends to surround who can curb the influence of Josh Kennedy, Nic Naitanui, Matt Priddis or Andrew Gaff.
Rarely do we hear pundits or opposition supporters addressing the significant threat posed by a man who is arguably as good as any small forward we have seen in the past decade – Mark LeCras.
With 337 goals from 152 games, LeCras easily has averaged more goals per game across his career than fellow star small forwards Eddie Betts, Cyril Rioli, Chad Wingard, Lindsay Thomas, Michael Walters, Hayden Ballantyne or Jamie Elliott.
Yet it is not unusual to see him left out of discussions about who is the best small-to-medium forward in the AFL.
Among this year’s top 20 goalkickers, no one had more goal assists than LeCras, only one player had more clearances, only two players had more touches, and only three players had more inside 50s.
His assists numbers – which placed him fourth overall in the AFL – are particularly important when assessing LeCras’s impact. He has shown a wonderful ability to be effective while playing deep inside 50, as we saw when he bagged 12 goals against Essendon in 2010, exploiting his extraordinary one-on-one skills.
These days, though, LeCras tends to play further out from goal, with the Eagles using his vision, poise, decision making and foot skills to set up scoring chances. The 29-year-old has all the attributes you expect of an on-baller and has shown the ability to be highly effective when pinch hitting through the middle.
So clever and versatile is LeCras that he easily could be an elite half back, but he is just too valuable in the forward half to consider such a move. Above all this, what makes him such a danger to North Melbourne this week is his appetite for performing in big games.
Unfortunately for LeCras, his career took off just as the Eagles’ era of dominance came to an end eight years ago, so he has played few finals.
Place him in front of a packed house in Subiaco, however, and he shines more often than not. The spotlight of finals is barely more intense than the focus on the Western Derbies each year and LeCras has excelled in those hotly contested matches.
No small forward in the past decade has caused as many problems for the watertight Fremantle defence as LeCras – in 12 Western Derbies he has booted 34 goals. The space offered to him by the long surface of Domain Stadium makes him extremely difficult to contain, whether in a goal-scoring or goal-creating sense.
When North Melbourne defeated the Eagles in Tasmania in Round 10 this year, it was significant that they managed to blanket LeCras, who was held goalless and to just 13 possessions.
On that day, the Eagles badly missed his creativity and delivery, which so often helps their forward line prosper.
North will surely put a heavy emphasis on closing him down once more. If they give him the kind of latitude he was afforded by Hawthorn two weeks ago they will live to regret it.
Paul D
Roar Guru
Cyril Rioli making All Australian was a joke. Apparently producing 5 minutes of brilliance a week is enough to crack it, no matter how anonymous the remaining game time is.
Seano
Guest
Not everyone on the east coast is stupid, I'm a Victorian living in QLD and I was shocked he didn't make the all Australian 40 list! For mine he should have been in the side over Cyril.
Lroy
Guest
He is probably one of the most underrated players in the history of the AFL... if he had of kicked that many goals playing for Richmond or Essendon they (Melbourne media) would be comparing him to Kevin Bartlett. He has all the prerequisites to have been a genuine centreman in the mold of Dean Kemp, but his goal-kicking prowess is so good they have to play him up forward. Really hope he goes well in this finals series, he has been a great servant of the club. ;-)
Stan McCan
Guest
I will be backing him for Norm Smith
jax
Guest
North will try to slow the game down by tagging Shuey and Gaff or possibly LeCras. WC are too quick for North so shutting these two guys down will go a long way towards North matching them in the middle. If North can do that they will be in the game for a while but then I would expect WC to bury them late with a flurry of goals. WC are the best 4th quarter team in the comp with a percentage of 174% in last quarters this season. Nic will get the better of Goldie but not by a lot as Goldie is such a formidable competitor.
Jamie Radford
Roar Pro
The underrated tag may very well end if the Eagles win the premiership, As you said he has played the majority of his career in less successful West Coast teams. A day out on GF day will almost certainly raise his profile in eastern states, and I doubt he is underrated in Perth.
Anonymous
Roar Pro
I agree, Priddis isn’t really tagable, I think North just have to back Cunnington, Swallow and Ziebell in to win the contested ball. The Eagles look the most dangerous when Shuey’s allowed to run free as we saw against the Hawks so I would be sending Jacobs straight to him. He has also has a poor record when being tagged. For North to have any chance they really need to get on top in the middle. There are so many intriguing match ups through there so its going to be quite exciting. I just hope for a close game.
jax
Guest
LeCras received his first ever report in May 2015 which is his 9th season of AFL. Not sure where you got that from but it's not true. "I haven't fully seen the incident," Simpson said. "I do know he's a fair player. He's never been reported before and sometimes I think with his arm that he thinks he should bump rather than tackle. So there's some things there. I can see why he did it." http://www.afl.com.au/news/2014-05-11/lecras-in-trouble-for-bump Since breaking his arm he has bumped twice when he should have tackled, I get it. He's one of the smartest players in the game and I definitely not prone to brain-fades.
jax
Guest
Shuey and Gaff are the obvious ones but maybe Scott won't be so predictable but I wouldn't be surprised to see Priddis or Lecca tagged either. North need to stop WC's outside run to have any chance. WC are going to get their hands on the ball no matter what they do which is why slowing down their spread is so important. I don't think it will change the result but they have to try.
Paul D
Roar Guru
He is prone to the odd brain fade though - hasn't he been suspended a few times for bumps and striking? Minor blots at best, but still - you would expect a bit better from a senior player.
Paul D
Roar Guru
Who do you think North will put on Luke Shuey? You'd assume Jacobs will go to Priddis - but I'm not so sure he can be stopped. Maybe Jacobs on Shuey would be a better option. I think if you can nullify Shuey and LeCras you go a long way to stopping the Eagles from breaking the game open. Gives them a lot less options going forward. Certainly not an easy task though by any means, and I'll be very impressed if North manage to pull it off.
jax
Guest
LeCras plays all over the ground and he typically sets up behind the ball at contests. Whoever goes with him will need to do a lot of running. They can try using a run with player or they can than use more than one player and hand him over to a defender when he gets near the forward line. Very hard player to stop for an entire game and he only needs the slightest of chances to bury you.
Anonymous
Roar Pro
Agreed, he is very dangerous and a match winner for the Eagles. I think North will send Wright to him. Wright is the most defensively minded of the North small/medium defenders. Atley and MacMillan are to offensive and could be severely exposed. He would also be far too agile for Firrito. It looms as a crucial matchup that North need to get right.
jax
Guest
Lecca is more versatile, valuable and dangerous than the guys he is often compared to. His career was tracking beautifully until he did his ACL and missed a year of footy. In his comeback he broke his arm and he wasn't right for a few years but played through it anyway. He spends most of his time behind the ball - 99% of people don't a clue about his role or how important and good he is.
Mister Football
Roar Guru
I think most would acknowledge that Le Cras is a reliable and consistent goal kicking machine - the amount of attention he receives relative to other small-medium forwards would be a combination of: 1. being a Perth-based player; and 2. having had periods of injury in recent years.