Scott Lucas (footballer)

Scott Lucas
Personal information
Date of birth (1977-12-30) 30 December 1977
Original team(s) Geelong Falcons
Draft No. 4, 1994 National Draft
Debut Round 5, 25 April 1996, Essendon
vs. Collingwood, at Melbourne Cricket Ground
Height 192 cm (6 ft 4 in)
Weight 97 kg (214 lb)
Playing career1
Years Club Games (Goals)
1996–2009 Essendon 270 (471)
1 Playing statistics correct to the end of 2009.
Career highlights
Sources: AFL Tables, AustralianFootball.com

Scott Lucas (born 30 December 1977) is a former Australian rules footballer for the Essendon Football Club in the Australian Football League, and is noted as the other major forward for the Bombers, along with Matthew Lloyd. Together, Lloyd and Lucas were affectionately dubbed the "twin towers" due to their height in the Bomber forward line.

Football career

Lucas is known for his strong marking and being a powerful, accurate left foot kick, although his apparent inability to kick with his right foot is almost as notable. Lucas once joked on The Sunday Footy Show in 2006 that the last time he kicked with his right foot was to Gary Moorcroft when he took the 2001 Mark of the Year.[1]

He mainly plays across half-forward or centre half-forward, but can also play at centre half-back and full forward. He regularly has shots on goal from outside 60-metres with his booming left foot and rarely handballs, averaging less than 3 handballs a match.

In 2006 Lucas had an outstanding season for an Essendon side that underachieved that year, playing at full forward and being their main target and goal kicker in the absence of captain Matthew Lloyd. He finished the season with a career best 67 goals, running second in the Coleman Medal behind Brendan Fevola. He was one of just three players who played every match for the season. He capped off this season with his second Crichton Medal, winning with 239 votes from Jobe Watson's 221.[2] He had previously won the award in 2003, when he shared the medal with James Hird.[3]

Against West Coast in Round 11, 2007, Lucas booted his 400th career goal.

A vintage display also came against West Coast in Round 22, when, despite being close to 50 points down, Lucas rallied in the last quarter in a remarkable solo effort, booting 7 goals (and just missing for a record-equaling eighth), reducing the margin to just 2 points. In the end a late goal to the Eagles saw a gallant Essendon fall 8 points short of one of the greatest ever AFL comebacks. This was also the last game of Essendon legend James Hird and coach of 27 years, Kevin Sheedy.[4]

During a match against the Western Bulldogs in the 2008 NAB Cup, Lucas managed to kick a record 3 Super Goals[5] which took his career tally to 7, making him the leading super goal kicker in the AFL.

Lucas suffered a knee injury, a torn cartilage in the first round of the 2008 season against North Melbourne and was out of action for a number of weeks. Along with teammate Dustin Fletcher, Lucas signed a one-year contract mid-2008. He bounced back to play in the second half of the season and kicked an amazing mid air soccer goal against Richmond late in the season.[6]

On 18 August 2009, Lucas announced his immediate retirement from football.[7]

In 2013, Lucas was inducted into the Essendon Football Club Hall of Fame.[8]

Playing statistics

[9]
Legend
 G  Goals  B  Behinds  K  Kicks  H  Handballs  D  Disposals  M  Marks  T  Tackles
Season Team # Games G B K H D M T G B K H D M T
Totals Averages (per game)
1996 Essendon 25 14 11 11 84 49 133 44 19 0.8 0.8 6.0 3.5 9.5 3.1 1.4
1997 Essendon 25 22 23 11 241 85 326 123 24 1.0 0.5 11.0 3.9 14.8 5.6 1.1
1998 Essendon 25 23 49 31 287 51 338 123 30 2.1 1.3 12.5 2.2 14.7 5.3 1.3
1999 Essendon 25 10 8 9 106 27 133 45 12 0.8 0.9 10.6 2.7 13.3 4.5 1.2
2000 Essendon 25 23 57 42 265 84 349 132 38 2.5 1.8 11.5 3.7 15.2 5.7 1.7
2001 Essendon 25 25 35 34 297 76 373 135 42 1.4 1.4 11.9 3.0 14.9 5.4 1.7
2002 Essendon 25 19 25 15 235 60 295 108 33 1.3 0.8 12.4 3.2 15.5 5.7 1.7
2003 Essendon 25 24 19 16 334 83 417 130 61 0.8 0.7 13.9 3.5 17.4 5.4 2.5
2004 Essendon 25 21 25 21 275 69 344 108 53 1.2 1.0 13.1 3.3 16.4 5.1 2.5
2005 Essendon 25 22 51 24 289 48 337 134 49 2.3 1.1 13.1 2.2 15.3 6.1 2.2
2006 Essendon 25 22 67 44 310 58 368 183 33 3.0 2.0 14.1 2.6 16.7 8.3 1.5
2007 Essendon 25 22 61 28 292 66 358 159 31 2.8 1.3 13.3 3.0 16.3 7.2 1.4
2008 Essendon 25 9 18 9 53 17 70 36 12 2.0 1.0 5.9 1.9 7.8 4.0 1.3
2009 Essendon 25 14 22 14 133 62 195 90 33 1.6 1.0 9.5 4.4 13.9 6.4 2.4
Career 270 471 309 3201 835 4036 1550 470 1.7 1.1 11.9 3.1 14.9 5.7 1.7

Personal life

On 4 January 2002 he married Georgina Short. They have 3 daughters – Mia (born 12 December 2002), Hannah (born 12 July 2004) and Meg (born 26 May 2006).

References

  1. ↑ Robinson, Mark. "Top 10 Speccies of All Time: No 8 Gary Moorcroft, Essendon".
  2. ↑ "Lucas wins second Crichton Medal". 14 September 2006.
  3. ↑ Johnson, Len (2 October 2003). "Hird and Lucas share medal".
  4. ↑ "Bombers fall short of fairytale finish". 2 September 2007.
  5. ↑ "Lucas gives Camperdown a kick-along". Herald Sun. 7 March 2008.
  6. ↑ Robinson, Mark (2008-03-25). "Bombers lose Lucas but find positives". Herald Sun. Retrieved 2008-03-25.
  7. ↑ Nicholls, Michael: Lucas calls it quits, AFL Online, 18 August 2009.
  8. ↑ Scott Lucas, essendonfc.com.au, 4 March 2013
  9. ↑ Scott Lucas' player profile at AFL Tables

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