GOALKICKERS excite fans. When I played, one of the best lined up 60 metres behind me in the goal square. Alex Jesaulenko was one of those rare players who would even get the contestants talking.

Many a time "Jezza" would perform a minor miracle, be it a spectacular mark or a scintillating piece of ground play where he would swoop, gather and sidestep before splitting the middle.

My opponent would often then say to me, "How good was that" as we got set for the next centre bounce. "See it every week", would be the casual reply.

Yes, the great goalkickers leave an imprint on the mind's eye. I can still see Jezza leaping early and hanging in the air on an opponent's back.

Doug Wade would lead straight up the ground and be in the crouch position when one of Bill Goggin's stab passes hit him in the guts. He would then unload a big torpedo towards goal.

Pete Hudson would look weak and wimpy. But he wasn't. He read the play the best of them all.

He stood his ground and took the sledgehammer hits that the full-backs of the day dished out. He bent over the ball hunchback style before he booted his wobbly flat punts. But they were deadly accurate.

"Huddo" averaged 5.6 goals a game. Nobody has done better than that. Collingwood's Peter McKenna was the drop punt specialist. He kicked 16 goals 4 behinds one day, and kicked 10 or more goals on another dozen occasions.

Jason Dunstall was efficiency plus — fast lead, strong safe hands, fair and unselfish. Tony "Plugger" Lockett was scary. He intimidated everyone. I once coached a player who accidentally put him in a head lock.

Once he realised who it was, he was in a dilemma. Too scared to hold on, and too scared to let go. No one kicked more goals than Lockett (1360), and no full-forward put fear into full-backs as much as Plugger did.

Today, very few teams have a permanent full-forward. Starting from the goal square as the past greats did, just doesn't happen.

Most teams don't play six forwards as they did in years gone by. Now, if you have three or four quality forwards, you give them space and push the rest into the midfield. The goalkickers who thrill us today are.

Jonathan Brown (Brisbane Lions)

The triple premiership centre half-forward now plays much closer to goal and is given plenty of space to use his extraordinary marking talents. In 2007 he topped the goals tally with a career high 77 and 63 of those goals came from marks. No player is looked for more by his teammates than Brown, with 42% of Brisbane's inside 50s targetted towards the big man. And no power forward gives off more goal assists than the Brisbane superstar.

Brendan Fevola (Carlton)

Fevola has kicked 15 goals at the MCG in his past two games. Tomorrow, he fronts up again, but you never know what to expect. Last week his first go at the ball was insipid. He went half-hearted, showed dismay when the ball wasn't delivered to his liking and failed to put pressure on the Collingwood defence as they ran it out. But, his last effort was outstanding. He applied two desperate tackles to win the ball, fired off an unselfish handball and sealed the game as teammate Shaun Grigg kicked accurately. So, "Fev" at his best inspires. Quick lead, broad shoulders, vice-like grip and thumping long kick. He has averaged three goals a game in a battling team. It can only improve.

"Buddy" Franklin (Hawthorn)

The lean goal-kicking machine is the hottest property in the game. With an unbelievable reach, quick feet and lightning reflexes, he is every defender's nightmare. He can mark it, and thrives on the ground level ball. Ten goals from two finals last year proves he can deliver when it matters. Last year's conversion rate of 52% was the lowest of the big forwards, but with 21 goals from four outings this year, he looks as though he is improving.

Matthew Pavlich (Fremantle)

The Dockers captain draws the ball 36% of the time when his team attacks. The burly forward plays with little fanfare, flair and aggression — it is all systematic leads. He times his runs into space better than most, and is generous with his goal assists. To become top shelf I would like to see greater intensity and aggression in his game and some fearless run with the flight-of-the-ball marking attempts, a la Jonathan Brown.

Matthew Lloyd (Essendon)

No present player has kicked more than 800 career goals, as Lloyd has done. He got most of them on sharp leads from the goal square. In his prime, he was the target for his team more than 40% of the time. That dropped to 29% last year, when he was pushed further upfield and Scott Lucas took more prominence. With Lucas out injured, it would be wise to return Lloyd to the goal square, as even though he is one-dimensional, it is from there that he will deliver his best.
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