Memorable Kickers

[Bendigo Demon 115]

In his early days at MFC, Darren Bennett took a mark just inside the centre square at VFL Park. Man on the mark was inside the square. Bennett went back and lined up with a drop punt. I remember remarking to my Dad "This [censored] thinks he can kick a goal." It sailed through mid post high, drop punt, not a torp. He won me over very quickly. If you look at old footage of VFL Park you will see the distance between the edge of the centre square and the 50M line, and can quickly work out what a monster of a kick it was.

[La Dee-vina Comedia 16,754]

I was always confused by Jesse Hogan's set shot kicking action. It always looked to me that he was holding the ball as if to kick it on his left (ie, non-preferred) foot. Nevertheless, it seemed to work (mostly) for him. It just made me more nervous than necessary each time he was running in to kick.

And a question for those who understand the mechanics of kicking. Why is it that natural left-foot kickers invariably seem worse on their right foot than right-footers are on their left?

[Jumping Jack Clennett 1,780]

24 minutes ago, La Dee-vina Comedia said:

I was always confused by Jesse Hogan's set shot kicking action. It always looked to me that he was holding the ball as if to kick it on his left (ie, non-preferred) foot. Nevertheless, it seemed to work (mostly) for him. It just made me more nervous than necessary each time he was running in to kick.

And a question for those who understand the mechanics of kicking. Why is it that natural left-foot kickers invariably seem worse on their right foot than right-footers are on their left?

But they're better on the left than rightfooters are on the right.

[Jumping Jack Clennett 1,780]

20 hours ago, Bendigo Demon said:

In his early days at MFC, Darren Bennett took a mark just inside the centre square at VFL Park. Man on the mark was inside the square. Bennett went back and lined up with a drop punt. I remember remarking to my Dad "This [censored] thinks he can kick a goal." It sailed through mid post high, drop punt, not a torp. He won me over very quickly. If you look at old footage of VFL Park you will see the distance between the edge of the centre square and the 50M line, and can quickly work out what a monster of a kick it was.

But Bennett missed some crucial goals from 20m out ,directly in front.

[Optimus D 283]

Darren Bennett was great from 40 - 50 +, loved Travis Johnstone's skills around the ground, Was always amazed at how far Danny Hughes could rooster the ball from kickouts  and Adam Yze was always a favorite to watch. I would struggle to name a player of recent times.

[Demons1858 1,760]

Robbie Flower was a very reliable kick at goal. If only he had the ball in his hands in place of Eishold, Yeates or Campbell in that last quarter. 

[ProperDee 1,698]

On 1/3/2020 at 10:40 PM, america de cali said:

Phil Rhoden, stalwart reserves player and Gardiner Medal winner who only played a few senior games but arguably one of the best booming drop kicker in the games history. Was a joy to watch him kick out from the goal square 65-70 metres every time. Always worth getting in early to watch our reserves games to watch him. He was a master of such a difficult and rare skill.

First name I thought of when I saw the thread title adc!

Edited January 15, 2020 by ProperDee

[hemingway 7,627]

So many great kicks in the game over my lifetime.

Of course we focus on our own club and the great kicks particularly the torpedo and the drop, sadly, the torp rarely used these days (who can forget the criticism of Lynden Dunne for using the torp), and the drop, now as dead as a dodo. 

Sad that the long kick is almost a thing of the past. Game style is now about possession and giving off the ball by hand or foot. Sure, we still have a long kick now and again but not a game where the long kick is consistently used by players as an attacking weapon and a thing of beauty. 

I remember many years ago at Arden Street watching Diamond Jim kick a goal from the wing, one of the longest kicks I have ever seen. It exploded off his foot and kept going as it sailed through the goals at the city end. And from what I can recall, it was a heavy ground and heavy ball. We lost that game and I have lost my memory of the game,  but for as long as I live,  I will remember Tilly's goal. 

It was spectacular, audacious and memorable. 

When all other details of a past match fade, fans can still remember a game because it was the day when a player kicked a prodigious distance. Similar to the screamer. Do we remember the match against the Lions when Shaun Smith took that screamer ? We don't remember much about the match but we do remember that mark. Hell yes. 

If a player today attempted a Tilbrook like goal (not that anyone could match it), the poor bast.... would be dragged off the ground and criticized by the coach for not kicking short to a player in space. 

Sure we still have exciting matches and memorable moments, but we have also lost so much of the features of the game that added to the memory bank and made our game truly unique.   

Edited January 15, 2020 by hemingway

[tiers 2,833]

On 1/15/2020 at 11:38 AM, Jumping Jack Clennett said:

But they're better on the left than rightfooters are on the right.

Simple. Left footesr have a natural advantage over the majority right footers in that they can turn clockwise onto their kicking foot and evade right footers who find the turn unnatural.

As a result, they have less need to kick right foot. But right footers have no such natural advantage so have to learn to kick both feet.

Its what made to dorks more potent under Clarko.

 

[chook fowler 19,458]

I miss read this thread. Thinking it was memorable knickers, I was about to make an outstanding contribution.

Edited January 17, 2020 by chook fowler

[ProperDee 1,698]

A brief history will be fine Chook.