Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
IT'S set to be one of the key points of interest in the second half of the BFNL season - Lachlan Sharp's pursuit of goalkicking history.
Already with 76 goals in the first half of the season, Strathfieldsaye superboot Sharp is just one shy of being exactly halfway to the BFNL home and away record of 154 goals set by Eaglehawk's Frank Crapper in 1933.
Yet when comparing how Sharp is tracking in comparison to Crapper's 1933 season, the Storm star is more than 20 goals in front.
After nine rounds of the 1933 season Crapper had 54 goals on the board - but that was just a small taste of what was to come from the Hawks' spearhead.
But adding to the difficulty of Sharp's chances of chasing down the BFNL's goalkicking record is that when Crapper booted his 154 in 1933 it was a 21-round home and away season. Sharp only has 18 rounds.
Crapper's last 12 rounds of 1933 yielded exactly 100 goals for the 21-year-old, who was one of three Bendigo league forwards to crack the ton that season, along with Maryborough's Stan Slater (111) and Sandhurst teenager Roy Moore (104).
To get to Crapper's 154 home and away goals, Sharp needs another 78 goals from nine games in a season where he has so far kicked: 6 (v Eaglehawk); 6 (v Sandhurst); 3 (v Golden Square); 6 (v Gisborne); 12 (v Kyneton); 5 (v Kangaroo Flat); 14 (v Castlemaine); 8 (v South Bendigo) and 16 (v Maryborough).
Of the top eight all-time best goalkicking seasons in the BFNL, former Castlemaine star Steven Oliver has the best record after nine games.
Nine games into Castlemaine's 1992 premiership season Oliver had already booted 81 goals, which included a haul of 17 against Northern United in round two.
Oliver would later kick another 20 against Northern United in round 14, while in one four-game block between rounds eight and 11 he kicked consecutive hauls of 10 against Maryborough, 10 against Kyneton, 11 against Golden Square and 14 against Kennington.
However, a shoulder injury late in the season derailed Oliver's chase of Crapper and having kicked 132 goals after 13 games he ended the home and away rounds with 136.
The closest a forward has come to Crapper's 154 goals was Golden Square's Grant Weeks' 148 in 2012, which featured seven hauls of 10 or more and one massive bag of 21 against Kyneton.
Although, including finals, Weeks' overall 2012 tally of 164 goals after kicking another 16 in September pips Crapper by one.
Crapper added nine more goals to his 154 in the 1933 finals for a final total of 163, yet despite all his forward heroics, the Hawks were knocked out by Sandhurst in the preliminary final.
* BFNL's top home and away goal kicking seasons:
154 - Frank Crapper (Eaglehawk)
Season - 1933
After 9 games: 54
Game 1 - 6
Game 2 - 7
Game 3 - 4
Game 4 - 9
Game 5 - 9
Game 6 - 2
Game 7 - 7
Game 8 - 5
Game 9 - 5
Rest of the home and away season - 11, 8, 8, 6, 1, 10, 9, 8, 6, 10, 14, 9.
148 - Grant Weeks (Golden Square)
Season - 2012
After 9 games: 70
Game 1 - 10
Game 2 - 4
Game 3 - 11
Game 4 - 10
Game 5 - 9
Game 6 - 5
Game 7 - 11
Game 8 - 3
Game 9 - 7
Rest of the home and away season - 7, 5, 11, 11, 5, 21, 7, 4, 7.
145 - Ron Best (Golden Square)
Season - 1980
After 9 games - 66
Game 1 - 6
Game 2 - 6
Game 3 - 5
Game 4 - 11
Game 5 - 4
Game 6 - 7
Game 7 - 0
Game 8 - 15
Game 9 - 12
Rest of the home and away season - 10, 0, 7, 12, 8, 10, 11, 7, 14.
145 - Grant Weeks (Golden Square)
Season - 2010
After 9 games - 77
Game 1 - 9
Game 2 - 5
Game 3 - 8
Game 4 - 9
Game 5 - 11
Game 6 - 11
Game 7 - 2
Game 8 - 10
Game 9 - 12
Rest of the home and away season - 11, 4, 14, 1, 7, 11, 5, 3, 12.
139 - Greg Kennedy (Eaglehawk)
Season - 1971
After 9 games - 67
Game 1 - 5
Game 2 - 13
Game 3 - 9
Game 4 - 5
Game 5 - 7
Game 6 - 3
Game 7 - 6
Game 8 - 7
Game 9 - 12
Rest of the home and away season - 3, 4, 5, 6, 9, 8, 8, 10, 5, 14.
136 - Steven Oliver (Castlemaine)
Season - 1992
After 9 games - 81
Game 1 - 12
Game 2 - 17
Game 3 - 9
Game 4 - 6
Game 5 - 5
Game 6 - 8
Game 7 - 4
Game 8 - 10
Game 9 - 10
Rest of the home and away season - 11, 14, 6, 20, 2, 0, 0, 2, 0.
132 - Steven Oliver (Castlemaine)
Season - 2000
After 9 games - 64
Game 1 - 4
Game 2 - 7
Game 3 - 0
Game 4 - 11
Game 5 - 7
Game 6 - 2
Game 7 - 12
Game 8 - 12
Game 9 - 9
Rest of the home and away season - 6, 5, 7, 6, 13, 10, 10, 4, 7.
132 - Ron Best (Sandhurst)
Season - 1975
After 9 games - 71
Game 1 - 5
Game 2 - 11
Game 3 - 14
Game 4 - 10
Game 5 - 4
Game 6 - 7
Game 7 - 9
Game 8 - 5
Game 9 - 6
Rest of the home and away season - 10, 1, 10, 5, 7, 11, 6, 3, 8.
Have you signed up to the Bendigo Advertiser's daily newsletter and breaking news emails? You can register below and make sure you are up to date with everything that's happening in central Victoria.