with hated act no longer allowed<\/a><\/p>\nThose first three names in particular have pencilled themselves in as some of the AFL’s modern day greats.Source: FOX SPORTS<\/p>\n
The wisdom that comes with experience is a factor because even if a couple of those forwards are a half-step slower or have less bounce in their spring than they did in their prime, their ability to read the game combined with their strength and nous in positioning their bodies is significant in one-on-one contests in their attack.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe rule changes have certainly helped us,\u201d Walker told foxsports.com.au.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe stand rule on the mark has opened things up and given us more options and the speed that the ball is moving with, you have to have a deeper forward just in case the ball goes out of bounce between the arcs, because the ball can come back in pretty quick. <\/p>\n
\u201cSo you have to have a deep forward a little bit more this season than probably at any other stage over the last 10 years. So those couple of rules have certainly changed things.\u201d<\/p>\n
Jeremy Cameron, 33, booted ten goals against the Western Bulldogs in Rd 6 and will be seeking to boost the Cats back inside the eight when they tackle North Melbourne in Geelong on Saturday. (Photo by Michael Willson\/AFL Photos via Getty Images)Source: Getty Images<\/p>\n
Former Collingwood coach Nathan Buckley, who is currently working as an assistant at Geelong, told Fox Footy\u2019s On The Couch on Monday that scoring from the centre bounce was \u201cthrough the roof\u201d and Walker said the introduction of the 6-6-6 rule pre-pandemic was a factor.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think the 6-6-6 from the centre bounce has been a massive one as well. You can\u2019t have a spare (defender) behind the ball, so that has balanced things out a bit as well,\u201d he said. <\/p>\n
\u201cSo I think a few of the rule changes have helped all forwards, but some of the more experienced ones in particular.\u201d<\/p>\n
Hawks win 6th-straight game beating Suns | 01:32<\/p>\n
THE TOP GUN<\/p>\n
Gunston is averaging four goals a game this season and trails only Ben King, who has kicked 26 goals in seven games, in the Coleman Medal.<\/p>\n
A factor in the 34-year-old\u2019s exceptional form is his ability to isolate in matches, with former West Coast premiership coach and Fox Footy pundit Adam Simpson among those marvelling at his ability to find space in the forward line.<\/p>\n
He likened the importance of the role Gunston is playing to that of his former North Melbourne teammate Wayne Carey given the command with which the Hawk is playing.<\/p>\n
\u201cJust this Gunston situation, he\u2019s kicked 5.4 on the weekend – he had nine shots a goal – and if anyone can get to a game to watch Hawthorn, because you can\u2019t see it on TV, he\u2019s got this disconnected role,\u201d Simpson said on Whateley on SEN. <\/p>\n
\u201cWe used to call it the \u2018Duck\u2019 (Carey) role – everyone gets out of the way – because he\u2019s 50 metres from the next defender, or the next pair. (of players), and the decision that the clubs have to make is, \u2018Do we squeeze up with the ground and just leave him 50 metres on his own? Do we play 10 metres in front? Or do we go back shoulder the whole time?\u2019.<\/p>\n
\u201cBecause whatever Hawthorn are doing, it\u2019s working really well, because he\u2019s getting a lot of shots on goal through not all his play, but a lot of it is because he\u2019s got room to disrupt his direct opponent, because there\u2019s no support. Once you break the line \u2026 you\u2019ve got a lot of space to kick to. Someone\u2019s going to stop it, but it hasn\u2019t been stopped yet.\u201d<\/p>\n
Gunston is not alone in spending time alone in attack, with Walker noting that the change in style this year meant that most clubs were leaving a forward deep to combat a sudden change in transition.<\/p>\n
The 36-year-old, whose Crows square off against Port Adelaide in an intriguing Showdown on Friday night, said the role could fall to a sharking forward like Izak Rankine or Josh Rachele at the Crows.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt might even be a small forward, a Rankine or a Rachele or someone like that,\u201d he said. <\/p>\n
\u201cBut you have to have someone who can play a little deeper and be isolated, so that if the ball does come in quick, you have got someone you can kick it to. Everyone has to get up in team defence and what not, but if it is coming in quick, you still need someone to kick it to.\u201d<\/p>\n
“One for the Dawson family!” | 03:04<\/p>\n
EXCELLING IN AUTUMN<\/p>\n
The veteran forwards are not alone, of course, in excelling this season. There are 15 players aged 34 or older on AFL lists and several of that cohort continue to play superbly.<\/p>\n
Scott Pendlebury was astonishing in the Anzac Day clash against Essendon and will break the AFL\u2019s game record next month. And Melbourne\u2019s Max Gawn is also in superlative form.<\/p>\n
Ex-Hawk and Blue Daniel Harford, who coached Carlton in the AFLW and works as a commentator for Fox Footy during the women\u2019s season, cited the performances of Gunston and Pendlebury when noting that age did not seem to be as big a factor in the modern game when it came to decisions regarding list management.<\/p>\n
Collingwood champion Scott Pendlebury, pictured being chaired off the ground after his 400th game in 2024 by Jeremy Howe and Steele Sidebottom, is set to break the AFL\u2019s game record next month. (Photo by Michael WillsonAFL Photos)Source: AFL Photos<\/p>\n
\u201cThe clock has shifted in footy as well. Old men are becoming more than capable of hanging around to remain great players in the AFL,\u201d Harford said on the Zero Hanger podcast.<\/p>\n
\u201cScott Pendlebury\u2019s performance on Saturday at the MCG in the Anzac game against Essendon was off the charts.<\/p>\n
\u201cJack Gunston\u2019s performance against the Gold Coast \u2026 in Tassie was fantastic as well with another five goals. He has kicked 24 goals this year and is second in the Coleman. It doesn\u2019t matter how old you are anymore. <\/p>\n
\u201cRemember the conversations when the interchange cap came in? It was going to be the end of the 300-game player because it was going to be too hard on the players to last the journey. That is the biggest fallacy in the history of football and commentary, because the older you are and the more experienced you are, the better you are becoming.\u201d<\/p>\n
Walker, who sits in 13th position when it comes to goals kicked after the age of 30, was concerned his career would end in his early 30s as he struggled with injuries and soreness.<\/p>\n
Adding pilates to his fitness regimen to boost flexibility, along with a greater understanding of what helps him succeed, has been a factor in the Crows\u2019 longevity. And he has no doubt the cohort currently excelling in their mid-30s will have embraced similar activities in order to compete against younger stars.<\/p>\n
\u201cSports science has to be a factor as well. I think it is enabling players to play a bit longer than what we once did,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
The improved management of elder champions is also a factor as well. Pendlebury will be rested against the Hawks given the proximity of the match to the Anzac Day outing, just as Walker missed against Geelong earlier this year.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe wanted to look after the old body and not have three six day breaks in a month (and we are) just trying to keep the end (of the season) in mind,\u201d he said. <\/p>\n
\u201cWe just wanted to be a bit more smart and proactive with it. In the past couple of years we\u2019ve had the luxury of being more reactive in making the decision on how I pulled up from games. We were keen to get on the front foot with it this year.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Ahead of a big clash with Collingwood at the MCG on Thursday night, veteran Hawk Jack Gunston has…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":639625,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[560],"tags":[309777,638,64,63,689,55,639,11295,13120,3567,203204,2485,223543,19089,12102,12141,663,12097,26511,677,6082,28885,701,16205,309775,19083,56211,1124,85,190949,28264,11545,304328,16702,9013,12120,660,309776,698],"class_list":["post-639624","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-afl","tag-adam-simpon","tag-afl","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-australia-and-new-zealand","tag-australian-football-league","tag-australianfootballleague","tag-ben-king","tag-centre-bounce","tag-courtney-walsh","tag-fitness-regime","tag-gold-coast","tag-interchange-cap","tag-jack-darling","tag-jack-gunston","tag-jeremy-cameron","tag-luke-beveridge","tag-max-gawn","tag-nathan-buckley","tag-oceania","tag-port-adelaide","tag-premiership-coach","tag-queensland","tag-rule-changes","tag-rule-pre-pandemic","tag-scott-pendlebury","tag-simpson","tag-south-australia","tag-sports","tag-sports-science","tag-stand-rule","tag-strike-rate","tag-sudden-change","tag-taylor-walker","tag-team-defence","tag-tom-lynch","tag-victoria","tag-wayne-carey","tag-western-bulldogs"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/639624","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=639624"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/639624\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/639625"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=639624"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=639624"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=639624"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
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