PAUL Puopolo sucked in a few deep breaths and sized up the tricky set shot in front of him as the dying seconds ticked down against North Melbourne last Friday night.

Shouldering the responsibility to win the game, the Hawthorn forward then bent over the football and went through his goalkicking routine.

Puopolo knew what to do. He had been here before.

In round five, he'd shown nerves of steel from an identical position – only metres in from the boundary and 30m out from goal – and split the middle to clinch an epic three-point victory over the Crows.

Somehow, second time around, Puopolo's set shot was even better.

He hit it sweetly, sending the ball on an unerring course for goal and sparking those increasingly familiar scenes of Hawthorn fans jubilantly celebrating a match-sealing major.

"I think it's something you always practice as a kid. You want to have a kick before the siren or on the siren," was how Puopolo described his trusty kicking under pressure.

"If you start thinking about the end result it can put you off. So I just practice what I need to do, my run in and the way I keep my body straight when I kick."

Puopolo is fast building a reputation as one of the competition's 'Icemen', in what has become a season of edge-of-your-seat kicks to win matches.

In round three, his teammate James Sicily amazingly clinched a nailbiter over the Western Bulldogs in the final minute of his sixth senior game.

And Richmond's Sam Lloyd will go down in Tigers folklore for his unforgettable after-the-siren 50m bomb, snatching a one-point victory from the jaws of defeat against the Sydney Swans in round eight.

But it's Western Bulldogs sharpshooter Tory Dickson who deserves the crown as the League's best set shot under pressure.

In games when the margin has been 12 points or less since 2013, Dickson has hardly missed.

He's taken 30 set shots and nailed 26, although it's not just his accuracy (87 per cent) that's astounding, it's also the difficulty of the shots.

Dickson's 'kick rating' is exceptional among players who have taken at least 20 set shots.

The Dogs forward's conversion is a whopping +25 per cent, according to Champion Data's tracking.

In other words, his odds of kicking a goal are 25 per cent greater than if the average player took a shot from the same position on the ground.

The next best is Fremantle livewire Michael Walters (+22), surprisingly followed by star Adelaide midfielder Rory Sloane, alongside Geelong duo Jimmy Bartel and Steven Motlop (+17).

Puopolo is rated well above average (+8), with his tried and tested routine clearly a key to success when tension mounts.

But at that moment when supporters hold their collective breath, so is just taking a moment to settle down.

"I wouldn't say it comes easy to me, but I don't have a total routine step wise," Dickson recently told AFL.com.au.

"I bring my heart rate down with a few deep breaths, make sure my momentum is always going forward and just go through with it."

Simple as that.

STATS QUIRK OF THE WEEK: Three players are on track to beat the average metres gained record set by then Swans defender Nick Malceski (609.9m) in 2013. Geelong superstar Patrick Dangerfield (620.3m) leads in 2016, ahead of Port backman Jasper Pittard (618.7m) and GWS defender Heath Shaw (613.4m). Champion Data has recorded metres gained since 2005. 

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