Opinion Best kicks of all time

[Cosmic Energy]

Don’t believe there has been a thread on this. I’d don’t profess to have all the answers, but I’ll throw up a few names to get started, based on either people I’ve seen or anecdotal evidence, but I’m keen to get some thoughts, particularly pre say the last 20 years before every game was on the telly. Clips would be handy also. Obviously there is a bit of Geelong flavour in my nominations.

I thought I’d split it up into different categories:

Longest kick - consistent long kicks, not just guys who kicked a long torp one time:

Bernie Quinlan, Laurie Keene, Gary Ablett Snr, Darren Bennett, Saverio Rocca, Paul Vinar, Jim Jess, Dustin Fletcher.

*** I couldn’t include Ben Graham in a “best” list. Was not a fan, and for his long kicking from the safety of full back I never saw him kick any long goals when he had the chance. Also can any Saints fan tell me whether Jeff Fehring was a regular long kick? We know about his booming torp, but not much else.


Best kick for goal – probably need to be a regular goal kicker:

Tony Lockett, Jason Dunstall, Peter McKenna, Matthew Lloyd, Doug Wade.


Best field kick:

Darren Jarman, Simon Black, Paul Couch, Nathan Buckley.


Best opposite foot kick:

Greg Williams, Jason Akermanis, Garry Hocking, Sam Mitchell, Peter Daicos, Gary Snr was very good & very long also.

 

[Team DJ]

Don’t believe there has been a thread on this. I’d don’t profess to have all the answers, but I’ll throw up a few names to get started, based on either people I’ve seen or anecdotal evidence, but I’m keen to get some thoughts, particularly pre say the last 20 years before every game was on the telly. Clips would be handy also. Obviously there is a bit of Geelong flavour in my nominations.

I thought I’d split it up into different categories:

Longest kick - consistent long kicks, not just guys who kicked a long torp one time:

Bernie Quinlan, Laurie Keene, Gary Ablett Snr, Darren Bennett, Saverio Rocca, Paul Vinar, Jim Jess, Dustin Fletcher.

*** I couldn’t include Ben Graham in a “best” list. Was not a fan, and for his long kicking from the safety of full back I never saw him kick any long goals when he had the chance. Also can any Saints fan tell me whether Jeff Fehring was a regular long kick? We know about his booming torp, but not much else.


Best kick for goal – probably need to be a regular goal kicker:

Tony Lockett, Jason Dunstall, Peter McKenna, Matthew Lloyd, Doug Wade.


Best field kick:

Darren Jarman, Simon Black, Paul Couch, Nathan Buckley.


Best opposite foot kick:

Greg Williams, Jason Akermanis, Garry Hocking, Sam Mitchell, Peter Daicos, Gary Snr was very good & very long also.

Darren Jarman surely makes the opposite foot kick as well. Far better then Mitchell and Hocking.

Jarman is the best all around kick i have seen. Jason Dunstall agrees.

 

[Cosmic Energy]

Darren Jarman surely makes the opposite foot kick as well. Far better then Mitchell and Hocking.

Jarman is the best all around kick i have seen. Jason Dunstall agrees.

Yeah that would be true, I was trying not to put players in too many categories...although I did manage to slip Gazza Snr in there twice I disagree on Buddha though in terms of "far" better. He was an amazing left foot kick, Buddha. He kicked a goal from about 60 in the 89 PF on his left, and hit Gazza on the chest with many a left footer. He was similar to Diesel in that he would turn on to his left almost in preference to his right.

Andrew Jarman was very good on the left too, almost better on his left than his right.

 

[Team DJ]

Yeah that would be true, I was trying not to put players in too many categories...although I did manage to slip Gazza Snr in there twice I disagree on Buddha though in terms of "far" better. He was an amazing left foot kick, Buddha. He kicked a goal from about 60 in the 89 PF on his left, and hit Gazza on the chest with many a left footer. He was similar to Diesel in that he would turn on to his left almost in preference to his right.

Andrew Jarman was very good on the left too, almost better on his left than his right.

Maybe a bit harsh saying far better i still think that Fuddwas better on his left then most of if not all those blokes you mention, but can understand why you did what you did.

For mine a combo or DJ and AJ would been the most skilled player ever.

Andrew hand the elite hands, Darren the elite legs.

 

[Cosmic Energy]

For mine a combo or DJ and AJ would been the most skilled player ever.

Andrew hand the elite hands, Darren the elite legs.

AJ seemed to have a bit more mongrel than DJ too. It would be interesting to design a Frankenstein's monster of a player combining various skills from different players. The Jarmans would be a good start.

No player has ever been "complete", Daics & Gazza I think individually had more of the core football handling skills covered than just about anybody else.

 

[Slattery_20]

Glad Fletcher's in there. Massively under-rated boot, which just baffles me how it happens as he's been around just a little while.

Very few players I would rather have, spotting targets out of defense - which deserves a category of it's own, IMHO, and you'd have guys like Birchall in there, Bob Murphy, Guerra, Hurn etc

 

[Cosmic Energy]

Glad Fletcher's in there. Massively under-rated boot, which just baffles me how it happens as he's been around just a little while.

Very few players I would rather have, spotting targets out of defense

Maybe it happens because people tend to remember the long goals rather than kicks out of defence. But Fletch has kicked many a long goal too. Some of his short kicking on the run out of defence has been pretty handy, a bit like Scarlett, can get some weird angles on the ball to find a teammate in space. Fletch also seems to be good at getting a bouncing ball to go to a teammate - what looks like a mongrel kick along the ground ends up in the right spot.

 

[Some Idiot]

Some oversights:
Lindsay Gilbee in his day was regarded the best field kick in the comp, as was Andrew Mcleod.

Hurn has always been a monster boot, and nowadays he rarely misses a target either.

Chris Newman and Sam Fisher are great kicks, they make bad decisions under pressure and poor on the opposite so probably wont be rated because of that.

Higgins has two right feet, drew some Akermanis comparisons early in his career because of it.

 

[Cosmic Energy]

Hurn has always been a monster boot, and nowadays he rarely misses a target either.

Quinten Lynch also kicks a long ball.

 

[wc_morty]

I'm going to keep it to players still playing the game today.

Longest Kick
1. Dustin Fletcher
2. Trent Mackenzie
3. Shannon Hurn (You just don't see Lynchy do it much anymore)

Best kick for Goal (Set Shot)
1. Lance Franklin
2. Tom Hawkins
3. Matthew Pavlich

Best kick for Goal (Running)
1. Lance Franklin
2. Steve Johnson
3. Steven Milne

Best Field Kick
1. Steve Johnson
2. Shannon Hurn
3. Gary Ablett Jnr

Best weak foot Kick
1. Gary Ablett Jnr
2. Sam Mitchell
3. Daniel Wells

 

[Team DJ]

I'm going to keep it to players still playing the game today.

Longest Kick
1. Dustin Fletcher
2. Trent Mackenzie
3. Shannon Hurn (You just don't see Lynchy do it much anymore)

Best kick for Goal (Set Shot)
1. Lance Franklin
2. Tom Hawkins
3. Matthew Pavlich

Best kick for Goal (Running)
1. Lance Franklin
2. Steve Johnson
3. Steven Milne

Best Field Kick
1. Steve Johnson
2. Shannon Hurn
3. Gary Ablett Jnr

Best weak foot Kick
1. Gary Ablett Jnr
2. Sam Mitchell
3. Daniel Wells

Franklin set shot. Lol. Next youll say Kurt Tippett.
Jay Shulz > Lance Franklin. Close to the best in the comp

 

[wc_morty]

Franklin set shot. Lol. Next youll say Kurt Tippett.
Jay Shulz > Lance Franklin. Close to the best in the comp

Franklin slots them in from anywhere. You could say he's a weak set shot, but the fact of the matter is for him odds are the same whether he's right in front 30 out or hugging the boundary 60 out, you'd back him.

 

[Barry_Badrinath]

I'm going to keep it to players still playing the game today.

Best kick for Goal (Set Shot)
1. Lance Franklin
2. Tom Hawkins
3. Matthew Pavlich

Best kick for Goal (Running)
1. Lance Franklin
2. Steve Johnson
3. Steven Milne

Are you serious?

LeCras, Aaron Edwards, Schulz, Jack Riewoldt, Mayne, Josh Kennedy all better set shots. Franklin's going at 53% this year.

 

[wc_morty]

Are you serious?

LeCras, Aaron Edwards, Schulz, Jack Riewoldt, Mayne, Josh Kennedy all better set shots. Franklin's going at 53% this year.

In the last 10 years, Franklin is the best kick for goal.

 

[Barry_Badrinath]

In the last 10 years, Franklin is the best kick for goal.

Better than Lloyd? What is this I don't even?

Poor kicking for goal is the one thing Buddy is maligned for.

 

[wc_morty]

Better than Lloyd? What is this I don't even?

Poor kicking for goal is the one thing Buddy is maligned for.

Remember this is all opinionated, and in my opinion if someone had a gun to my head and said "right, pick someone to kick this goal, if they miss I will shoot you in the head" I would pick Franklin.

 

[eaglespremiers]

Quinten Lynch also kicks a long ball.

Well that just completely misses the posters point.
Hurn is a better field kick than Simon Black.
Much more difficult kicks too IMO.

 

[eaglespremiers]

Remember this is all opinionated, and in my opinion if someone had a gun to my head and said "right, pick someone to kick this goal, if they miss I will shoot you in the head" I would pick Franklin.

You should watch the Deer Hunter.
I wouldn't like your odds of lasting many rounds.

 

[Cosmic Energy]

Well that just completely misses the posters point.
Hurn is a better field kick than Simon Black.
Much more difficult kicks too IMO.

While he was talking about finding targets, I was responding to the bit where he said Hurn has always been a "monster boot" as per the quote, so I'd say I didn't miss the point. You may have missed mine.

It's a different kind of kick though, Black has been a great kick in heavy midfield traffic, finding guys in space, whereas Hurn does the quarterback type of thing, like Goddard, Gibbs, Josh Hunt etc.

 

[Donakebab]

Remember this is all opinionated, and in my opinion if someone had a gun to my head and said "right, pick someone to kick this goal, if they miss I will shoot you in the head" I would pick Franklin.

Not factoring in kicks that failed to score, Franklin kicks at 57%. Absolutely no where near the best kicks for goal.

 

[wc_morty]

Not factoring in kicks that failed to score, Franklin kicks at 57%. Absolutely no where near the best kicks for goal.

The name Matthew Lloyd keeps coming up, but even Lloyd never kicked over 100 goals in a season, Franklin has done that AND claimed 2 Colemans (Lloyd - 3). He must be a horrid kick for goal, its not all about what the numbers say, when it counts, buddy will slot it through 8/10

 

[Donakebab]

The name Matthew Lloyd keeps coming up, but even Lloyd never kicked over 100 goals in a season, Franklin has done that AND claimed 2 Colemans (Lloyd - 3). He must be a horrid kick for goal, its not all about what the numbers say, when it counts, buddy will slot it through 8/10

Have you got rocks in your head? What does Lloyd have to do with my post?

1) I didn't mention him.
2) you did a list on current players, Lloyd retired in 2009.

Lots of shots on goal ≠ best kick. It counts every time and Buddy will slot it 5.7/10.

 

[Chadley]

The name Matthew Lloyd keeps coming up, but even Lloyd never kicked over 100 goals in a season, Franklin has done that AND claimed 2 Colemans (Lloyd - 3). He must be a horrid kick for goal, its not all about what the numbers say, when it counts, buddy will slot it through 8/10

oh boy.... this kid

 

[WestyBoy89]

Gilbee had one of the best kicks i'd ever seen.
Bucks could drill pass 50m and break a team mates sternum.
Daicos for being a freak and letting the likes of Stevie J to embrace their freakness.

 

[La Vache]

Mark Bayes was the best long kick I've seen. Actually Denis Carroll from the swans would be up there as well.

Some others which need a mention.

Guy McKenna, Paul Hudson (shot at goal), Blake Caracella (shot at goal), Dean Rioli, Didak at his best was a beautiful kick.