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In my previous article I commented on the enjoyment some of us get from counting up the games and goals achievements of the top 100 players. That article concentrated on the elite of the elite in that it was about the AFL top 100.
Equal enjoyment can be had at club level, where there are so many different scenarios to celebrate.
It may be watching a key forward going about his craft, kicking multiple goals and building his lead as the club’s leading goal kicker – as is the case with West Coast Eagles star Josh Kennedy or Greater Western Sydney gun Jeremy Cameron.
It may be watching the champion forwards at the older, more established club chasing down the totals achieved by the champions of the past.
Richmond’s Jack Riewoldt (Quinn Rooney/Getty Images)
For example, Jack Riewoldt this year surpassed the goal-kicking performance of 1970s and 80s Tigers champion Michael Roach, in doing so taking over the AFL mantle for most goals kicked in the AFL by a player wearing the famous No. 8. Riewoldt already held the AFL record for the most games played in the No. 8 jumper.
At the same time we can also celebrate the three goals of fellow Richmond player Josh Caddy, who is not a Tiger top-100 goal scorer yet, but having played his first game for 2019, he will become one if he can manage another three goals over the remainder of the season.
Similarly, the exciting Anthony McDonald-Tipungwuti may beat teammate Cale Hooker into the elite group at the Bombers if he can repeat his effort against Brisbane. As it stands after Round 4, McDonald-Tipungwuti now sits on 79 goals and Cale Hooker on 82, with the bar set at 83.
At Essendon, Collingwood and Geelong there are recent entrants to the top-100 goal kickers, and nearly every week you can expect players such as Orazio Fantasia (Essendon) Jordan de Goey (Collingwood) and Patrick Dangerfield (Geelong) to kick one, two or three goals and continue their rapid rise up the elite list of goal kickers at their club far in advance of their possibility of being a top-100 game player.
Then there are the intra-club tussles where two players are separated on the club ladder by only a few goals so that there is an internal battle going on to convert as many opportunities as possible. At Port Adelaide Robbie Gray is winning the contest at present, becoming the second Power player to reach the 300-goal mark after kicking two goals and leaving the goalless Justin Westhoff four goals of the pace.
At Adelaide Taylor Walker leads the current players goal-kicking list, but the battle is on for second current-player status and No. 4 overall between Eddie Betts and Josh Jenkins. Betts, with his three goals in the loss to North Melbourne, now holds sway over Jenkins, who scored only one and therefore sits one goal behind.
At St Kilda the battle continues between twin towers Josh Bruce and Tim Membrey.
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