IT seems the time of the 100-goal forward in the River Murray Football League has past.
But with a plethora of forwards, both big and small, kicking large bags of the goals so far this season the question is, can one of them reach the magical century?
The last prolific forward the RMFL has seen was the great Imperials full forward Brad Shiell.
Shiell dominated the league’s goal kicking between 2001 and 2005, kicking hauls of 127, 146, 114, 95 and 102 goals over five consecutive years.
Since then the totals have been much lower, with Clint Girardi and Matt Seyers tieing for leading goal-kicker in 2006 with 73, and Girardi booting 76 goals to take the crown in 2007.
But the totals are a far cry from the large hauls Shiell pulled in consistently.
After six games this season burly Imperials forward Martin Baillie leads the RMFL’s goal kicking with 31 goals, closely followed by Jervois magician Trevor Rigney and Mypolonga full forward Brad Martin on 30 goals.
Following the top three is a cluster of Ramblers players, topped by Mail Medallist Ryan Morris, who has 24 goals.
With 12 games to go, plus finals, could this be the year the competition sees the 100-goal barrier broken once again?
Baillie has been consistent for the Blues this year, regularly kicking five to six goals a game and RMFL secretary Peter Dalwood said he thought he was most likely forward to reach the mark.
“Baillie will only play one position for the year, full forward, because his physical prowess doesn’t allow him to,” Mr Dalwood said.
“He is on track, he is kicking about five goals a game and has a good midfield pumping it into him.”
Rigney’s form has been the talk of the competition after Jervois coach Sam Mahony moved him to full forward just a couple of games into the season.
Rigney has been phenomenal in the past three games, kicking bags of eight goals against Mannum, nine against Meningie and nine against Mypolonga, however Mr Dalwood was unsure whether he could achieve the 100 goal mark.
“I don’t think Trevor Rigney will get there because I don’t think he will be playing full forward all year,” Mr Dalwood said.
“Rigney is multi-skilled, he can play multiple positions.”
Mr Dalwood said Ramblers’ large array of forwards would mean no individual would stand out, while he nominated Mypolonga full forward Martin as the man most likely to challenge Baillie.
“Martin is a dark horse, because Mypo have a slightly better draw than the top three sides,” he said.