ONE-THIRD of the way through the season, the Coleman Medal race makes for some interesting reading.
The names that have dominated the charts for the past five to 10 years – Josh Kennedy, Jack Riewoldt, Jeremy Cameron, Lance Franklin, Tom Hawkins, Ben Brown, Tom Lynch – are nowhere to be seen, due to a combination of injuries and form.
In their place are a relatively unheralded and surprising bunch who are in the form of their careers.
|
|
Goals |
Pre-season Coleman odds |
|
Harry McKay (Carlton) |
30 |
$34 |
|
Taylor Walker (Adelaide) |
27 |
$67 |
|
Josh Bruce (Western Bulldogs) |
25 |
$101 |
|
Ben King (Gold Coast) |
23 |
$51 |
|
Matt Taberner (Fremantle) |
22 |
$26 |
|
Cale Hooker (Essendon) |
22 |
$19 – only entered market in round three |
*Odds provided by SportsBet
McKay, 23, is hitting his straps after a few years in the system and has already topped his previous best season of 2019 (26 goals from 20 games).
At the other end of the spectrum, veteran Walker is arguably in career-best form, held goalless for the first time this year over the weekend by Port Adelaide's Tom Clurey. Prior to that, Walker had kicked two bags of six and one five-goal haul.
Bruce is sitting in third spot, boosted by a 10-goal rout of North Melbourne, but has not been goalless this year and kicked another five against Carlton over the weekend.
For contrast's sake, the top five favourites for the Coleman over pre-season were as follows:
|
|
Goals |
Pre-season Coleman odds |
Coleman position |
|
Tom Hawkins (Geelong) |
18 |
$6 |
=11th |
|
Charlie Dixon (Port Adelaide) |
12 |
$7 |
=31st |
|
Tom Lynch (Richmond) |
14 |
$7 |
=21st |
|
Josh Kennedy (West Coast) |
17 |
$7 |
=12th |
|
Joe Daniher (Brisbane) |
14 |
$9 |
=21st |
*Odds provided by SportsBet
Kennedy has missed one game with an ankle injury, but the other four players have played all eight matches for their clubs this year.
