READ MORE - The HDFL's top 50 goalkickers from 2012-19
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
READ MORE - The LVFL's top 50 goalkickers since 2012
READ MORE - The NCFL'S top 50 goalkickers from 2012-19
WHEN Derrick Filo looks back on his time coaching Matt Gretgrix, he's immediately drawn to his performances in September.
Gretgrix played in nine finals for the Hawks with Filo as coach, booting 40 goals.
Those 40 goals are among the 745 Gretgrix has kicked for Eaglehawk, which has him as the most prolific goalkicker in the Bendigo Football-Netball League over the past 15 seasons dating back to 2005.
Filo was coaching Eaglehawk when the Hawks recruited key forward Gretgrix from North Central league club Charlton ahead of the 2006 season.
"Gerta was good mates with Kain Robins and we had heard he was a pretty good player," Filo said on Thursday.
"Realistically, though, we probably didn't realise we'd get the return out of him that we did.
"We knew he'd fit in well with us being good mates with Kain and he has been a great player for Eaglehawk and one of the great forwards in the competition, particularly when it comes to finals."
In total, Gretgrix's 745 goals feature 81 in finals kicked in 2006 (3), 2007 (14), 2008 (14), 2010 (9), 2011 (13), 2013 (10), 2016 (13) and 2017 (5).
The most memorable of Gretgrix's finals performances came on the biggest of stages, booting eight goals in the Hawks' six-point 2008 grand final win over Golden Square, coached by Mark Adamson.
"You see a lot of blokes kick four or five goals in grand finals, which is an enormous effort. But when you kick eight, he was just unstoppable that day and that was a match-winning performance," Adamson said.
"I tried lots of different things against Gerta when I was coaching at Golden Square and then at Kyneton, but it didn't work too often... he had us covered because he was too good."
Gretgrix kicked goals in 178 games for the Hawks, which includes 69 hauls of at least five - nine of which were more than 10.
"I'll be honest... I didn't see much of him at training; we just used to meet on Saturdays," said Filo, who coached Gretgrix in 2006, 2007, 2008 and 2010.
"We had a bit of an agreement in place where I said that if you kick goals for us in the big games then I won't harass you about practicing your kicking and running."
A nine-time leading goalkicker at Canterbury Park, Gretgrix's best season came in 2016 when he booted 90 goals, including nine in the Hawks' elimination final win over Kyneton.
Coming in at No.2 in the list of top goalkickers in the BFNL since 2005 is Strathfieldsaye superboot Lachlan Sharp with 682.
A foundation player with the Storm in 2009, Sharp's 682 goals feature 17 games where he has kicked 10 or more, while he has twice topped the ton, kicking 142 in his Michelsen Medal-winning season of 2017 and 133 in 2019.
Even though he only played three seasons in the competition, Grant Weeks' 451 goals for Golden Square ranks at No.3 on the list.
Weeks' 21 goals against Kyneton in round 15 of 2012 are the most in a game during the 2005-20 timeframe.
THE TOP 50:
1 - Matt Gretgrix
(Eaglehawk)
Goals: 745
High: 13 Games: 178
5+: 69 10+: 9
............................................
2 - Lachlan Sharp
(Strathfieldsaye)
Goals: 682
High: 17 Games: 149
5+: 57 10+: 17
............................................
3 - Grant Weeks
(Golden Square)
Goals: 451
High: 21 Games: 59
5+: 46 10+: 18
............................................
4 - Darren Farrugia
(Gisborne)
Goals: 421
High: 8 Games: 139
5+: 30 10+: 0
............................................
5 - Justin Maddern
(Kangaroo Flat, South Bendigo)
Goals: 362
High: 12 Games: 70
5+: 40 10+: 7
............................................
6 - Matt O'Toole
(Golden Square)
Goals: 357
High: 10 Games: 123
5+: 23 10+: 2
............................................
7 - Cameron Rinaldi
(Kangaroo Flat, Maryborough)
Goals: 319
High: 10 Games: 123
5+: 15 10+: 1
............................................
8 - Ben Weightman
(Kyneton)
Goals: 278
High: 13 Games: 68
5+: 24 10+: 4
............................................
9 - Dayne Frew
(South Bendigo)
Goals: 259
High: 15 Games: 69
5+: 19 10+: 2
............................................
10 - Tyrone Downie
(Kangaroo Flat)
Goals: 255
High: 9 Games: 77
5+: 20 10+: 0
............................................
11 - Sam Mildren
(Strathfieldsaye)
Goals: 243
High: 9 Games: 58
5+: 24 10+: 0
............................................
12 - Sean Williams
(Eaglehawk)
Goals: 239
High: 9 Games: 75
5+: 18 10+: 0
............................................
13 - Shannon Geary
(Strathfieldsaye, Kangaroo Flat, Eaglehawk, Sandhurst)
Goals: 230
High: 5 Games: 128
5+: 5 10+: 0
............................................
14 - Matt Thornton
(Sandhurst)
Goals: 227
High: 6 Games: 114
5+: 7 10+: 0
............................................
15 - Christian Carter
(Golden Square)
Goals: 221
High: 8 Games: 85
5+: 12 10+: 0
............................................
16 - Luke Saunders
(Gisborne)
Goals: 215
High: 10 Games: 72
5+: 13 10+: 1
............................................
17 - Brady Herdman
(Eaglehawk)
Goals: 212
High: 12 Games: 65
5+: 16 10+: 1
............................................
18 - Michael Leech
(South Bendigo)
Goals: 202
High: 8 Games: 70
5+: 15 10+: 0
............................................
19 - Lee Coghlan
(Sandhurst)
Goals: 197
High: 7 Games: 115
5+: 3 10+: 0
............................................
20 - Nick Stagg
(Sandhurst)
Goals: 194
High: 7 Games: 113
5+: 2 10+: 0
............................................
21 - Matt Knox
(Gisborne)
Goals: 193
High: 12 Games: 66
5+: 12 10+: 1
............................................
22 - Mitch Scholard
(Kyneton)
Goals: 186
High: 9 Games: 52
5+: 16 10+: 0
............................................
23 - Adam Baird
(Golden Square)
Goals: 179
High: 8 Games: 98
5+: 5 10+: 0
............................................
24 - Kris Lea
(Strathfieldsaye)
Goals: 175
High: 6 Games: 74
5+: 7 10+: 0
............................................
25 - Kaiden Antonowicz
(South Bendigo)
Goals: 174
High: 13 Games: 40
5+: 15 10+: 3
............................................
26 - Joel Wharton
(Sandhurst)
Goals: 173
High: 5 Games: 88
5+: 2 10+: 0
............................................
27 - Phil Lobb
(Eaglehawk, Kangaroo Flat)
Goals: 166
High: 10 Games: 50
5+: 11 10+: 1
............................................
28 - Dylan Johnstone
(Golden Square)
Goals: 163
High: 9 Games: 47
5+: 12 10+: 0
............................................
29 - Luke Beattie
(Kyneton, South Bendigo)
Goals: 162
High: 9 Games: 52
5+: 13 10+: 0
............................................
30 - Jarrad Lynch
(Gisborne)
Goals: 160
High: 7 Games: 79
5+: 9 10+: 0
............................................
31 - Pat McKenna
(Gisborne)
Goals: 155
High: 11 Games: 40
5+: 13 10+: 1
............................................
32 - Brodie Filo
(Eaglehawk)
Goals: 153
High: 7 Games: 76
5+: 5 10+: 0
............................................
33 - Matt Brown
(Maryborough)
Goals: 152
High: 10 Games: 47
5+: 10 10+: 2
............................................
34 - Derrick Filo
(Eaglehawk, Kyneton, Castlemaine)
Goals: 151
High: 7 Games: 67
5+: 5 10+: 0
............................................
35 - Matt Bond
(Maryborough)
Goals: 149
High: 7 Games: 61
5+: 6 10+: 0
............................................
36 - Ollie Messaoudi
(Gisborne)
Goals: 146
High: 4 Games: 96
5+: 0 10+: 0
............................................
37 - Shaun Comerford
(Gisborne)
Goals: 144
High: 4 Games: 103
5+: 0 10+: 0
............................................
38 - Kain Robins
(Eaglehawk)
Goals: 140
High: 10 Games: 56
5+: 7 10+: 1
............................................
39 - Travis Baird
(Golden Square)
Goals: 138
High: 8 Games: 59
5+: 10 10+: 0
............................................
40 - Alex Galea
(South Bendigo)
Goals: 137
High: 6 Games: 70
5+: 4 10+: 0
............................................
41 - Jordan Barham
(Gisborne)
Goals: 137
High: 12 Games: 30
5+: 14 10+: 2
............................................
42 - Daniel Christmas
(Castlemaine)
Goals: 136
High: 7 Games: 44
5+: 8 10+: 0
............................................
43 - Mitch Dole
(Sandhurst, Eaglehawk)
Goals: 133
High: 6 Games: 58
5+: 2 10+: 0
............................................
44 - Brady Childs
(South Bendigo)
Goals: 132
High: 5 Games: 79
5+: 2 10+: 0
............................................
45 - Blair Holmes
(Sandhurst)
Goals: 130
High: 5 Games: 87
5+: 1 10+: 0
............................................
46 - Jake Hall
(Strathfieldsaye, Golden Square)
Goals: 128
High: 5 Games: 75
5+: 3 10+: 0
............................................
47 - Tom Bartholemew
(Strathfieldsaye)
Goals: 128
High: 6 Games: 52
5+: 5 10+: 0
............................................
48 - Damien Brown
(Kangaroo Flat, Eaglehawk)
Goals: 128
High: 12 Games: 49
5+: 8 10+: 1
............................................
49 - Bryce Curnow
(Strathfieldsaye, Golden Square)
Goals: 128
High: 9 Games: 44
5+: 9 10+: 0
............................................
50 - Tom May
(Gisborne)
Goals: 127
High: 5 Games: 69
5+: 4 10+: 0
............................................
NEXT WEEK - The Addy's top ranked players since 2005.
If you are seeing this message you are a loyal digital subscriber to The Bendigo Advertiser, as we made this story available only to subscribers. Thankyou very much for your support and allowing us to continue telling Bendigo's story. We appreciate your support of journalism in our great city.