The lowdown on Coleman Medal hopefuls Matt Windley
From: Herald Sun
August 23, 2012 THIS year's Coleman medallist is on track to record the lowest tally since 1975.
Leigh Matthews booted 67 majors that season to snare his only Coleman Medal, but with current leader Matthew Pavlich sitting on 60 goals, this year's contenders are every chance to go under that mark.
Goalkicking legends Brian Taylor and Paul Salmon said yesterday it was a trend footy fans should get used to, with modern game plans leaning towards sharing the scoring.
But former Hawthorn and North Melbourne forward Nathan Thompson said each of this year's leading goalkickers had excuses for their low hauls, such as injury or form slumps.
Pavlich leads Jack Riewoldt (56), Drew Petrie (55), Tom Hawkins (54), Lance Franklin (51) and Stephen Milne (50) with two matches remaining.
And each of those forwards would give themselves a chance of finishing on top with games against lower-ranked sides to come.
Milne's St Kilda plays Greater Western Sydney this week, while Geelong (Hawkins) takes on the Western Bulldogs. In the final round, Pavlich's Fremantle faces Melbourne, Richmond (Riewoldt) plays Port Adelaide and North Melbourne (Petrie) faces the Giants.
Taylor, the 1986 Coleman winner, said he expected future winners to record similar tallies.
"There's definitely going to be greater spread with the way the game's now played. Much more dependence is placed on the team kicking goals, particularly the midfield, not just any one forward.
"I'm not going to say a forward won't kick somewhere near 100 goals, but it's getting more and more unlikely with the way the game is played and also the type of player that we're bringing in to the game."
Salmon, who kicked 561 goals in 324 games for Essendon and Hawthorn, agreed.
"Certainly the game is not encouraging single key forwards to dominate proceedings. It's not the best thing for anyone's game plan, so that's the changing nature of it.
"Plus, it's hard to imagine another era that unearths the quality of full-forwards that were around in the 1980s and '90s.
"It doesn't mean that if a Tony Lockett didn't walk through the door that you wouldn't play him out of the goalsquare and wouldn't channel a lot of ball through him. But that type of player doesn't exist as much as they did."
But Thompson, who kicked 327 goals in 179 games, said key forwards would continue to push the 100-goal mark.
"I don't think it's a trend," Thompson said.
"If you look at it, Lance Franklin has missed a lot of football, if he plays every game he probably kicks 100 nearly. Tom Hawkins had a really slow start to the year, but if he was playing the type of footy he is now he'd probably be up around 70 or 80.
"Drew Petrie's a ruckman and forward.
Jack Riewoldt, even by his estimations, probably hasn't had his best year, but he's still up near the top of the goalkicking table."
http://www.heraldsun.com.au/afl/the-lowdown-on-coleman-medal-hopefuls/story-e6frf9io-1226456156172
