Our top 5 goal-kickers for 2019

[Mofra]

Pretty simple - predict our top 5 goal kickers for 2019.

FWIW our 2018 top 5 was as follows:

Billy Gowers 26
Marcus Bontempelli 22
Mitchell Wallis 20
Josh Schache 17
Patrick Lipinski 12


I'm making wild guesses:

Gowers
Schache
Wallis
Bonti
Lloyd

Dickson is the wildcard - if he stays fit he could be anywhere on that list, I'm just not sure he does stay fit.

[Axe Man]

Gowers 36
Wallis 31
Bont 25
Dickson 23
Schache 22

[Rocket Science]

Schache 31
Dickson 29
Bontempelli 26
Gowers 24

Then throw a blanket over Richards, Wallis, Suckling, McLean and Dunkley for 5th.

If we can have our top dozen hit double figures it'd help mitigate those low top end totals.

[Mofra]

If we can have our top dozen hit double figures it'd help mitigate those low top end totals.
In addition to our top 5 from 2018, only two other players hit double figures - Dunkley & McLean (both with 11 goals).

Dickson and Greene (8 from 8 and 5 from 5) were the only players outside the top 7 to kick a goal per game.

[whythelongface]

This is difficult and thinking about it makes you wonder where our goals will come from. For us to improve it will need to be an even spread amongst our top 5/6 goal kickers.

Dickson 36
Schache 34
Gowers 32
Dale 28
Wallis 26

Throw in the likes of Bont, Dunks, McLean to also kick double figures then we have a very good spread.

[Bumper Bulldogs]

Dickson
Gowers
Schache
Greene
Bontempelli

I think that the new 6 on 6 will help Dickson and Greene so much and the likes on Bont and McCrae hitting the natural leads lace out.

I love Wallis but with this new rule I can see Greene getting off the chain and pushing him out of the forward 50

[SonofScray]

It'd be terrific if we could get:
40 goals from Shache
25+ Gowers

And 150+ combined goals from Bont, Wallis, Libba, Dunkley, Lloyd, McLean, Dale, Dickson, Williams

Goals are an important part of footy. I often tell my ice hockey team that should we score more goals than the opposition in the allocated time for play, we should win the game. I believe the same applies for footy.

[Mofra]

40 goals means Schache is 16th on the goalkickers list going by 2018 results. It's a difficult to kick multiple goals in the modern era.

[hujsh]

40 goals means Schache is 16th on the goalkickers list going by 2018 results. It's a difficult to kick multiple goals in the modern era.

16th isn't so high I couldn't buy it happening.

[Mofra]

16th isn't so high I couldn't buy it happening.
Well in other terms - that's 54% increase on our 2018 highest goal kicking total. 40 is a lot in modern football.

[hujsh]

Well in other terms - that's 54% increase on our 2018 highest goal kicking total. 40 is a lot in modern football.
That's one way to look at it. Another is that Schache kicked 17 goals in 13 games, extrapolated that becomes 28.6 if he plays 22.

To reach 40 he only needs another 12. 6 through natural progress and 6 from the team improving and kicking more goals/not having goalless halves would be all it takes.

I agree it wouldn't be easy and likely won't happen but assuming we aren't rubbish this year it's certainly not outside the realm of possibility.

[Go_Dogs]

16th isn't so high I couldn't buy it happening.

The bloke we didn't pick for our pre-season games kicks 40? I think Schache will do fine, but that's a lot of goals particularly for a bloke who is still green and will be expected to do a lot of work upfield with his running.

[hujsh]

The bloke we didn't pick for our pre-season games kicks 40? I think Schache will do fine, but that's a lot of goals particularly for a bloke who is still green and will be expected to do a lot of work upfield with his running.

Well we didn't pick him in the one game in pretty bad conditions for a tall forward. I personally wouldn't read too much into it. Let's see how he goes Sunday.

[Go_Dogs]

My crack at our top 5:-

Gowers
Dickson
Bontempelli
Wallis
Schache

[Ghost Dog]

Sam Lloyd
Dickson
Gowers
Marcus
Schache


If he plays and is fit, Dicko should be able to bag a few.

[The Bulldogs Bite]

1. Lloyd
2. Gowers
3. Schache
4. Bont
5. McLean

[Sedat]

Would have put Naughton up there but now unlikely after Morris' injury. I reckon Lloyd and Bont will lead our goalkicking with low 20's. We are in for a difficult year.

I reckon Gowers will regress this year and fall in and out of the team.

[Eastdog]

Ill go:

Schache
Lloyd
Gowers
Bont
Wallis

Hoping also Jack Macrae gets some goals as well along with Josh Dunkley and Libba and a few other of our mids.

Good to have a even spread. We haven't had a go to man up forward for a while. Need to be better when we get it up there and do damage to the opposition.

[AshMac]

Wally
Lloyd
Gowers
Bont
Schache

[Ghost Dog]

Despite the lack of enthusiasm for Gowers on some patches of the board, nice to see some punters have him in the top 5.
He has that aggro we lack sometimes.

[merantau]

1. Naughton
2. Gowers
3. Schache
4. Lloyd
5. Dickson

[Mofra]

1. Naughton
2. Gowers
3. Schache
4. Lloyd
5. Dickson
After round 1 I'm inclined to agree, with just the Bont subbing in for Dickson at 5.

[bornadog]

After two rounds

2019 Western Bulldogs Total Goals Leaders

Rank Name Total

1 Billy Gowers 5
1 Josh Schache 5
3 Aaron Naughton 4
4 Tory Dickson 3
5 Sam Lloyd 2
5 Toby McLean 2

[Mantis]

If we can get Schache, Gowers and Naughton all over 30 goals I think that would be a pretty good result.

Hopefully a few more kick 15+ which will lead us to be fairly productive in the front half.

[bornadog]

After 8 Rounds



Rank
Name
Total


1
Aaron Naughton
14


2
Sam Lloyd
12


3
Billy Gowers
10


4
Tory Dickson
8


5
Toby McLean
6


5
Marcus Bontempelli
6

[bulldogtragic]

Lloyd has repaid the super cheap price tag for him. Has half a dozen goal assists too. Good pick up.

[Mofra]

Lloyd has repaid the super cheap price tag for him. Has half a dozen goal assists too. Good pick up.
Yep, very happy to have him.

[Happy Days]

Lloyd's been like a forward-half version of Crozier, in the sense that I didn't see it when we picked him up and was determined to not rate him, but he's barely put a foot wrong since coming over. Exactly the sort of player we needed and probably could use two of him.

[Ozza]

After 8 Rounds



Rank
Name
Total


1
Aaron Naughton
14


2
Sam Lloyd
12


3
Billy Gowers
10


4
Tory Dickson
8


5
Toby McLean
6


5
Marcus Bontempelli
6



Keep going at the same rate and play every week and they finish;

Naughton 38
Lloyd 33
Gowers 27
Dickson 24
Bont 17
McLean 17

[1eyedog]

Lloyd has repaid the super cheap price tag for him. Has half a dozen goal assists too. Good pick up.

Agreed. I wasn't a fan but in terms of cost benefit it's a big win for us.

[Twodogs]

I like LLoyd. For one thing I don't have to hide somewhere while he is taking a shot at goal.

[Mofra]

Agreed. I wasn't a fan but in terms of cost benefit it's a big win for us.
We had been watching him for some time too - rumours about our interest were flagged during the season. Clearly a target and an indication we know we need talent forward of the ball.

[comrade]

Clearly a target and an indication we know we need talent forward of the ball.

If we didn't know that, I'd have major concerns!

[Axe Man]

Keep going at the same rate and play every week and they finish;

Naughton 38
Lloyd 33
Gowers 27
Dickson 24
Bont 17
McLean 17

Ignoring the possibility of injury or suspension:

Hopefully Naughton should be able to average 2 goals a week or better from here and kick over 40.
Lloyd, Gowers and McLean seem about right.
Dickson's total is going to depend on if he is in the team or not.
Surely Bont doesn't kick as badly as he did in the first 6 rounds for the rest of the season and therefore should hopefully end at least in the 20s.

[lemmon]

Longggg way to go but genuinely incredible to think that we could have a second year key position player kick nearly 40 goals in a season.

For measure, Buddy kicked 31, Roughead kicked 12, Nick Riewoldt kicked 21, Jack Riewoldt kicked 18, Pavlich kicked 28, Lloyd kicked 18, Hall kicked 14, Fev kicked 26, Brown kicked 38, Carey kicked 38, Kennedy kicked 6 as did Trav Cloke...and I doubt any of those guys had spent the rest of their footy career at full back.

Going super early here, but this kid could be really special.

[bornadog]

After 15 Games



1
Sam Lloyd
25


2
Aaron Naughton
22


3
Tory Dickson
15


4
Billy Gowers
13


5
Josh Schache
11

[GVGjr]

It would be great for both the club and player if Naughton can average 2 goals a game for the balance of the season
Similarly if Lloyd can average 1.5 goals a game, Schache needs to add some score consistency as well

[Eastdog]

The forwards are really coming together now and we are getting some rewards. Real good stuff. Schache has shown some great signs and was particularly good in the wet in SA last week for us. Very good kick.

[bornadog]

After 21 rounds



Rank
Name
Games
Total


1
Sam Lloyd
21
35


2
Aaron Naughton
21
29


3
Tory Dickson
17
24


4
Josh Schache
12
21


5
Bailey Dale
8
16



Dale has done well with only 8 games played.

[Bumper Bulldogs]

After 21 rounds



Rank
Name
Games
Total


1
Sam Lloyd
21
35


2
Aaron Naughton
21
29


3
Tory Dickson
17
24


4
Josh Schache
12
21


5
Bailey Dale
8
16



Dale has done well with only 8 games played.

The concern that I see is we don’t have a Goal kicking mid. Bont could have been the one if he kicked straight this year

[Mitcha]

Spot on which is why Isaac Smith would be a welcome addition at the right price. Has leg speed, a long accurate leg and scoreboard impact. If Hawthorn are pushing him out the door for salary cap space it shouldn't cost us much more than a third rounder. Yes from me.

[bornadog]

The concern that I see is we don’t have a Goal kicking mid. Bont could have been the one if he kicked straight this year

Bont on 14 with lots of misses. I am not too concerned as he has been pretty good in the past. Needs to get over the yips.

[ledge]

Spot on which is why Isaac Smith would be a welcome addition at the right price. Has leg speed, a long accurate leg and scoreboard impact. If Hawthorn are pushing him out the door for salary cap space it shouldn't cost us much more than a third rounder. Yes from me.

I worry about his age and speed slowing down he isn’t going to improve it’s only downhill from here.
He has had a quiet year from previous years I would rather we went younger.

[GVGjr]

Spot on which is why Isaac Smith would be a welcome addition at the right price. Has leg speed, a long accurate leg and scoreboard impact. If Hawthorn are pushing him out the door for salary cap space it shouldn't cost us much more than a third rounder. Yes from me.

All good points, too many people focus on age or height to justify why players shouldn't be selected. Your reasoning is sound and if it's about a 3rd rounder to acquire him then he would be a welcome addition.

The only proviso I would add is we would have other priorities and Smith would be more of a 3rd choice for me.
Would Karl Amon be a cheaper addition for us?

[1eyedog]

Is Amon a better player than Smith? Re. Smith we'd only offer 2 years surely.

[merantau]

I'm claiming a win in tipping our leading goal kickers for 2019. Four out of my five picks ended in the top five. I missed out on Billy Gowers and didn't nominate Bailey Dale.
I'm really pleased for him. He's good overhead, kicks a good set shot and knows where the goals are for a snap shot. He's got a few tricks and has finally shown that he can add some tackle pressure up forward.
Lloyd has been a great get. Can kick a long goal and has been very consistent.
Naughton is a constant threat up forward and demands a lot of attention from the opposition. Umpires need to watch closely. He's been copping the Chris Grant treatment and it's a disgrace.
Dicko has erased any doubts about his ability to hold his own at this level. I'm really pleased about that. He only needs a few kicks to be a damaging player.
Schache has been excellent. Big, mobile and getting stronger. He kicks beautifully and has added depth to our forward set up. Don't like him in the ruck though.

[AshMac]

I'm claiming a win in tipping our leading goal kickers for 2019. Four out of my five picks ended in the top five. I missed out on Billy Gowers and didn't nominate Bailey Dale.
I'm really pleased for him. He's good overhead, kicks a good set shot and knows where the goals are for a snap shot. He's got a few tricks and has finally shown that he can add some tackle pressure up forward.
Lloyd has been a great get. Can kick a long goal and has been very consistent.
Naughton is a constant threat up forward and demands a lot of attention from the opposition. Umpires need to watch closely. He's been copping the Chris Grant treatment and it's a disgrace.
Dicko has erased any doubts about his ability to hold his own at this level. I'm really pleased about that. He only needs a few kicks to be a damaging player.
Schache has been excellent. Big, mobile and getting stronger. He kicks beautifully and has added depth to our forward set up. Don't like him in the ruck though.

Someone made a fantastic point recently - Schache is less than 4 years into his career which for a tall forward is nothing

[westdog54]

Someone made a fantastic point recently - Schache is less than 4 years into his career which for a tall forward is nothing

When you consider Naughton is two years into his, and only one of those was spent as a tall forward, this is a combo we can potentially get 8-10 years out of.

[AshMac]

When you consider Naughton is two years into his, and only one of those was spent as a tall forward, this is a combo we can potentially get 8-10 years out of.

It’s genuinely really exciting isn’t it! Naughton for me is a bit of a bob murphy....the only problem is there’s only one of him.

[GVGjr]

Bailey Smith will be a 20+ goal kicker each season

With the likes of Lloyd and Smith around Schache and Naughton we will have some goal scoring power going forward

[Ozza]

Top 5 Now:

Lloyd - 37 (22 games)
Naughton - 30 (22)
Dickson - 24 (17)
Schache - 23 (13)
Dale - 21 (9)

[Mofra]

Bailey Dale with a bullet. Well done lad

By all accounts we were into Lloyd from halfway into last season. Brilliant trading

[Hotdog60]

Naughton and Schache have similarities to Lynch and Bradshaw combo of the of the 2000's Lions.

[ledge]

Dale always had it in him just kept getting injuries when he was coming good.
He is now starting to get a good run at it.

[azabob]

Naughton 30 goals 27 behinds.

I wonder how many shots he’s had that failed to score?

[bornadog]

Naughton 30 goals 27 behinds.

I wonder how many shots he’s had that failed to score?

I think he could easily kick 50 next year