Opinion
Is it just coincidence that the number of current players who make up the top 100 goal-scorers of all time is similar to the number still running around who are among the top 100 game players of all time?
The season started with eight modern-day players as members of the game-playing elite and there were also eight in the goal-scoring elite 100.
During the season one more player has made it onto each list: Melbourne’s ex-captain Nathan Jones (games) and Hawthorn’s Luke Breust (goals).
Nathan Jones (Michael Willson/AFL Media/Getty Images)
The parallels don’t stop there.
Four have played 400 games, while one more player has kicked 1000 goals. At the other end of the list, the benchmark for entry to either list is expected to shortly become 300 games or 400 goals.
Why are the lists so in sync when making the top 100 goal-scorers is clearly limited to those in close proximity to the sticks, whereas every player, regardless of position, has the opportunity to play for 20-plus years?
It is likely coincidence and over time the two will diverge.
It is unlikely we will ever see another 1000-goal player, with Lance Franklin our last, outside, chance.
It is also worth noting that the superstar who held the goal-scoring record, Collingwood’s Gordon Coventry, kicked his first goal 100 years ago and he has only been overtaken by Tony Lockett – who played for both the Saints and the Swans decades later.
On the other hand, the four players to achieve 400 games all achieved it in a 32-year period which straddled the turn of the 21st century.
Greater professionalism, opportunities and fitness have been offset to some extent by older starting ages and more ruthless team management, but the former give the modern player the edge. As such, the remarkable effort of 194 consecutive games from debut of Sydney’s Jared Crouch or the 244 consecutive games of Melbourne’s Jim Stynes has one well on the way to 400 games after 12 years.
The current tactics however rely on many players kicking goals and therefore it is likely that Jack Riewoldt, Josh Kennedy and Eddie Betts will all finish their careers with goals kicked in the 600s – joined by Tom Hawkins just outside the top-20 goal kickers of all time.
Two 28-year-old Jacks (Darling and Gunston) appear likely to make the top 100 before the end of the season, raising the bar for membership of the top 100 club to 399 (causing the demise of Carlton’s Horrie Clover and Swan Tony Morwood).
In the future, they may push on to 500 goals and a possible top 60 ranking of all-time.
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